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Germany 

BY 

cathe:rine:  WINKWORTH 


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J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  &  CO. 
PHILADELPHIA. 

MACMII/I/AN  h  Co 


.t^5*^J 


LIBRARY 

UMVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNU 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PREFACE. 


The  hymns  of  Germany  are  so  steadily  becoming 
naturalized  in  England  that  English  readers  may  be 
glad  to  know  something  of  the  men  who  wrote  them, 
and  the  times  in  which  they  had  their  origin.  Scarcely 
one  of  the  numerous  hymn-books  which  have  been 
compiled  here  within  the  last  fifteen  years  is  without 
its  proportion — sometimes  a  considerable  proportion 
— of  German  hymns.  This  is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  many 
ways  in  which  the  literature  of  each  nation  now  tends 
to  become,  through  the  medium  of  translations,  the 
common  property  of  both.  But  hymns  form  only 
a  part,  though  an  important  part,  of  the  religious 
poetry  of  Germany,  which  itself  constitutes  but  one 
sharply  defined  branch  of  the  general  literature  of  the 
country.  Yet  it  is  impossible  to  trace  the  course 
historically  of  even  this  one  channel  of  national  ex-, 
pression,  without  being  brought  into  contact  with 
those  great  movements  which  have  stirred  the  life  of 
the  people,  and  finding  the  passing  fashions  of  each 
successive  age,  in  thought  or  phraseology,  reflected 
from  its  surface.  Such  a  work  as  the  present  cannot 
attempt  more  than  an  outline  of  a  subject  which  is 

thus  linked  on  the  one  side  to  the  general  history  and 
s.u  vr.  ^ 


iv  PREFACE. 

literature  of  Germany,  while  on  the  other  it  has  a 
separate  history  of  its  own,  full  of  minute  and  almost 
technical  details.  Only  the  principal  schools  and 
authors  are  described,  and  specimens  are  selected  from 
their  works  ;  but  other  writers  oT  secondary  rank  are 
mentioned;  to  enable  readers  who  may  be  inclined  to 
do  so,  to  fill  up  the  picture  of  any  particular  school  or 
period  more  completely  for  themselves.  The  choice 
of  the  specimens  has  been  determined  partly  by  their 
intrinsic  merits,  partly  by  their  novelty  to  the  English 
public ;  hence  nearly  all  the  great  classical  hymns  are 
named  as  illustrating  the  spirit  of  certain  times,  but 
they  are  not  given  in  full,  because  they  have  been 
previously  translated,  and  are  in  many  instances 
familiar  to  us  already.  A  very  few,  which  it  was  im- 
possible to  pass  over,  form  the  only  exceptions  to 
this  rule. 

In  reading  the  poems  scattered  through  the  follow- 
ing pages,  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  suffer 
under  the  disadvantage  of  being  all  translations  and 
from  one  hand,  which  inevitably  robs  them  of  some- 
what of  that  variety  of  diction  which  marks,  in  the 
original,  the  date  of  the  composition  or  the  indi- 
viduality of  the  author.  Still,  as  far  as  possible,  their 
characteristic  differences  have  been  carefully  imitated, 
and  the  general  style  and  metre  of  the  poem  retained. 
Verses  have  been  occasionally  omitted  for  the  sake  of 
brevity,  and  once  or  twice  a  Trochaic  metre  has  been 
altered  into  an  Iambic,  where  the  change  did  not 
seriously  affect  the  shape  of  the  poem,  whilst  it 
enabled   the    English    version    to    reproduce    certain 


PREFACE.  V 

striking  expressions  in  the  German.  Single  rhymes 
have  been  throughout  substituted  for  double  ones,  ex- 
cept where  the  latter  constitute  an  essential  element  of 
the  metre ;  this  modification  necessitates  the  addition 
or  the  omission  of  a  syllable  in  the  line,  but  makes  it 
possible  to  give  a  more  faithful  and  spirited  rendering 
than  can  be  managed  within  the  very  limited  range  of 
English  dissyllabic  rhymes.  The  frequent  recurrence 
of  particular  phrases  and  rhymes  is  not  accidental, 
but  is  a  peculiarity  of  all  German  popular  poetry  from 
the  Niebelungen  Lied  downwards.  Besides  the  speci- 
mens given  in  this  volume,  many  of  which  are  rather 
poems  than  hymns,  between  three  and  four  hundred 
German  hymns  in  English  dress  may  now  be  found 
in  various  collections  of  translations.  Of  these  the 
chief  are  "Hymns  from  the  Land  of  Luther;" 
"  Sacred  Hymns  from  the  German "  by  Miss  Cox  ; 
the  "  Spiritual  Songs  of  Luther "  and  "  Lyra  Do- 
mestica "  of  Mr.  Massie  ;  "  Hymns  for  the  Church 
of  England  "  by  Arthur  Tozer  Russell ;  the  "  Lyra 
Germanica "  and  the  "  Chorale  Book  for  England." 
Nearly  all  the  German  hymns  in  our  ordinary  hymn- 
books  are  drawn  from. some  one  of  these  sources  or 
from  John  Wesley.  Where  only  the  first  English 
line  is  mentioned  in  this  work,  the  complete  hymn 
may  generally  be  met  with  in  the  "Lyra  Germanica," 
or  is  one  of  Wesley's  well-known  versions. 

It  seems  out  of  place  in  a  work  like  this  to  give 
a  list  of  authorities,  which  would  necessarily  be  long. 
German  hymns,  like  our  own,  have  undergone  many 
revisions,  and   are   to   be  met  with  in  very  varying 

b  2 


vi  PREFACE. 

forms;  of  course  these  specimens  have  been  taken 
from  what  appeared  to  me  the  most  trustworthy 
sources  at  my  command.  But  I  may  be  allowed  to 
express  my  obligations  to  the  following  important 
works  : — Wackernagel's  great  work,  "  Das  Deutsche 
Kirchenlied"  both  in  the  edition  of  1842  and  the  one 
now  in  progress ;  his  lives  and  editions  of  Heermann 
and  Gerhardt,  and  his  brother's  "  Altdeiitsches  Lese- 
buch  ;"  the  "  Geschichte  des  KircJienliedes  wid Kirchen- 
gesanges"  by  Dean  Koch  of  Wurtemberg,  to  which 
I  owe  many  details  of  the  biographies  of  the  chief 
hymn  writers ;  the  "  Geistliche  Volkslieder"  of  Hom- 
mel ;  Von  Hagenbach's  ^'  Kirchoigeschichtc ;"  Ger- 
vinus'  "  Geschichte  der  deiitscJieii  Dichtimg ;"  and 
Gustav  Freitag's  charming  series  of  sketches  of 
German  life,  "  Bilder  aus  der  deutschen  Vergan- 
genheit." 

Clifton,  ,^/r//  1869. 


CONTENTS. 


Of  all  the  joys  that  are  on  earth 

Vor  alien  Freuden  auf  Erden — Luther. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  early  Dawn  of  German  Sacred  Poetry  and  Song. 

A.D.  800 — 900 3 

Now  wameth  us  the  Wise  Men's  fare 17 

Manot  unsih  thisu  fart — Otfried. 

CHAPTER  II. 
A  LONG  Twilight,    a.d.  900—1100 21 

Our  dear  Lord  of  grace  hath  given        28 

Unsar  trohtin  hat farsalt—W^.  Century. 
Thou  heavenly  Lord  of  Light 29 

Dti  Ilimilisco  trohttn — X.  Century. 
God,  it  is  Thy  property 29 

Got  thir  eigenhaf  ist — IX.  Century. 

CHAPTER  IIL 
The  Morning,    a.d.  iioo— 1250 30 

Christ  the  Lord  is  risen 37 

Christus  ist  erstanden — Anon. 
Now  let  us  pray  the  Holy  Ghost 38 

Nu  biten  wir  den  keiligen  geist — AnoN. 
All  growth  of  the  forest 38 

Wurze  des  waldes — Spervogel. 
He  is  full  of  power  and  might 39 

Er  istgewaltic  unde  stare — Spervogel. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

O  Rose,  of  the  flowers  I  ween  thou  art  fairest 41 

Diu  rose  ist  die  schoeneste  under  alle — der  MElsSENiERE. 
My  joy  was  ne'er  unmixed  with  care 42 

Minfroede  wart  nie  sorgelos — Hartmann  von  der  Aue. 
Now  in  the  name  of  God  we  go 43 

In  Gotes  namen  faren  wir — Anon. 
Ere  since  this  day  the  cross  was  mine 44 

Des  tages  do  ich  daz  kriuze  nam — Reinmar  VON  Hagenau. 
Alas !  for  my  sorrow 45 

O  we  des  smerzen — Anon. 
When  the  flowers  out  of  the  grass  are  springing 46 

So  die  bluomen  uz  dem  grase  dringent — Walter  von  der 
Vogelweide. 
Would  ye  see  the  lovely  wonder 47 

Muget  in  schowen  waz  dem  meien — W.  v.  D.  Vogelweide, 
Ye  should  raise  the  cry  of  welcome 48 

Ir  suit  sprechen  willekomen — W.  v.  D.  Vogelweide. 
In  safety  may  I  rise  to-day 50 

Mit  saelden  miieze  ich  hiute  ii/siek—W.  V.  D.  Vogelweide. 
Lord  God,  if  one  without  due  fear 50 

Swer  due  vorhte,  lierre  Got — W.  v.  D.  Vogelweide. 
How  seldom  praise  I  Thee,  to  whom  all  lauds  belong     ....       51 

Vil  wol gelobter  Got  wie  selten  ich  dich  prise — W.  v.  D.  Vogel- 
weide. 
Now  at  last  is  life  worth  living 51 

Nu  alrest  leb  ich  niir  werde. — W.  V.  D.  Vogelweide. 
Sir  Percival.      Eight  extracts 60 

/izrs/z/a/,  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach — (iibersetzt  von  San  Marte. ) 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Dark  Times  and  bright  Times.     a.d.   1253 — 1500     ...      69 

From  outward  creatures  I  must  flee 74 

Ich  miiz  die  creaturen  fliehen — Tauler. 
O  Jesu  Christ,  most  good,  most  fair 75 

O  Jesu  Christ,  ein  lieblichz  gut — Tauler. 
My  joy  is  wholly  banished 78 

Min  vreiide  isl  gar  zergangen — Frauenlob. 
Now  will  I  nevermore  despair  of  heaven 80 

Nu  wil  ich  tiimmer  mer  verzivifeln — Frauenlob. 
A  ship  comes  sailing  onwards 84 

Es  komt  ein  schif  geladen — Tauler. 
A  spotless  Rose  is  blowing 85 

Es  ist  ein  Ros  entsprungen — Anon. 
There  went  three  damsels  ere  break  of  day 85 

Es  giengen  drtfrrivlin  also  frit — Anon. 


CONTENTS. 


PACK 

Rejoice,  dear  Christendom,  to-day 87 

Nufrew  dich  Hebe  Christenheit — Anon. 
So  holy  is  this  day  of  days 88 

Also  heilig  ist  der  Taj"— Anon. 
Fair  Spring,  thou  dearest  season  of  the  year 88 

Du  leiize gut,  des  jares  teuresie  quarts — CoNRAD  VON  QUEINFURT. 

0  world,  I  must  forsake  thee 91 

O  fVe/t,  ich  muz  dich  lassen — Anon. 

1  would  I  were  at  last  at  home 92 

Ich  wolt  daz  ich  daheime  wer — LOUFENBURG. 
Ah !  Jesu  Christ,  my  Lord  most  dear 93 

Ach,  lieber  herre  Jesu  Christ — Loufenburg. 
In  dulci  Jubilo,  sing  and  shout,  all  below 94 

In  dulci  jfubilo,  singet  utid  seidfroh — Anon. 

CHAPTER  V. 
Luther  and  his  Friends,     a.d.  1500 — 1580 98 

I've  ventured  it  of  purpose  free 99 

Ich  hab's  gewagt  init  Sinnen — Ulrich  von  Hutten. 
A  sure  stronghold  our  God  is  He no 

Einfeste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott — Luther. 
Dear  Christian  people,  now  rejoice 112 

Nun  freut  euch  liebes  Christen  gemein — Luther. 
In  peace  and  joy  I  now  depart 1 14 

Mit  Fried  und  Freud  ich  fahr  dahin — LUTHER. 
If  God  were  not  upon  our  side 117 

Wo  Gott  der  Ilerr  nicht  zu  uns  halt — ^JUSTUS  JONAS. 
I  fall  asleep  in  Jesu's  arms 121 

In  Jesu  VVunden  schlaf  ich  ein — Paul  Eber. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Hymns  of  the  Reformation,     a.d.  1520 — 1600    ....     122 

Salvation  hath  come  down  to  us         123 

Es  ist  das  Ileil  uns  kommen  her — SperatUS. 
What  pleaseth  God,  that  pleaseth  me 124 

Wie's  Gott gejallt,  gefalWs  mir  auch — Blaurer. 
Grant  me.  Eternal  God,  such  grace 125 

Getuid'  mir  Herr,  Ewiger  Gott — Margrave  of  Brandenburg. 
Awake,  my  heart's  delight,  awake 131 

Wach  auf  meines  Ilerzens  Schone — Hans  Sachs. 
O  Christ,  true  Son  of  God  Most  High 134 

Christe,  wahrer  Sohn  Gottes  frolm — Hans  Sachs. 


CONTENTS. 


PACK 

Praise,  glory,  thanks  be  ever  paid' 137 

Lob  und  Ehr  mit  steitem  Danckopfer — Bohemian  Brethren. 
Lord,  to  Thy  chosen  ones  appear 139 

Erscheine  alien  auserwd/ilten — Bohemian  Brethren. 
Now  God  be  with  us,  for  the  night  is  closing 139 

Die  Nacht  ist  kommen  drinn  wir  ruheit  j^//^«— Bohemian 
Brethren. 
When  my  last  hour  is  close  at  hand 143 

Wenn  mein  Stiindlein  vorJiandeji  ist — Nicolas  Hermann. 
O  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost 144 

0  Vater,  Sohn,  und  HeiPger  Geist — Matthesius. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
An  Interval,    a.d.  1560 — 1616   .     .     .     .• 146 

Lord  Jesu  Christ,  my  Highest  Good 149 

Herr  "jfesu  Christ,  mein  h'dchstes  Gut — Ringwaldt. 
Lord  Jesu  Christ,  with  us  abide 152 

Ach  bleib  bei  uns,  Herr  Jesu  Christ — Selnecker. 
Make  me  Thine  own  and  keep  me  Thine 152 

Lass  mich  dein  sein  ujid  bleiben — Selnecker. 
From  God  shall  nought  divide  me 154 

Von  Gott  will  ich  nicht  lassen — Helmboldt. 
In  God,  my  faithful  God 156 

Auf  meinen  treuen  Gott — Weingartner. 
Thou  burning  Love,  Thou  holy  Flame 157 

Brennende  Liebe,  dtt  heilige  Fla»i;ne—Atioa. 
O  Morning  Star,  how  fair  and  bright ! 160 

Wie  schdn  leucht^t  uns  der  Morgenstern — NicoLAl. 

CHAPTER  Vin. 
The  Thirty  Years'  War.     a.d.  1618 — 1650 165 

O  Light,  who  out  of  Light  wast  born 1 73 

O  Licht  geboren  aus  dan  Lichte — Opitz. 
Let  nothing  make  thee  sad  or  fretful 1 75 

Lass  dich  nur  nichts  nicht  dauern — Flemming. 
Can  it  then  be  that  hate  should  e'er  be  loved         1 75 

Lst^s  moglich,  dass  der  Hass  auch  kann  geUebet  sein  ? — Flemming. 
All  glories  of  this  earth  decay 177 

Die  Herrlichkeit  der  Erden—GKYPHIVS. 

In  life's  fair  spring 1 79 

In  meiner  ersten  Bliii' — Gryphius. 
Now  thank  we  all  our  God 181 

Nun  danket  alle  C^//— RiNKART. 


CONTENTS. 


PAr.E 
O  ye  halls  of  heaven 185 

Schoner  Himmelssaal — S.  Dach. 
Worthy  of  praise  the  Master-hand 187 

Der  Meister  tsij'a  lobenswertA — RoBERTHlN. 

0  darkest  woe  !  ye  tears  forth  flow 191 

O  Traurigkeit,  O  Herzeleid—JonK'H'tf  VON  RiST. 
Now  God  be  praised,  and  God  alone 192 

Gott  set  gelobet  der  allcin—].  von  Rist. 
Ah,  Lord  our  God,  let  them  not  be  confounded 197 

Herr  unser  Gott,  lass  nicht  zii  Sclianden  werdeti — ^J.  Heermann. 
Zion  mourns  in  fear  and  anguish 198 

Zion  klagt  mil  Angst  und  Schmerzen — ^J.  Heermann. 
Jesu,  Saviour,  since  that  Thou 200 

Jesu,  der  dii  bist,  mein  He'd — ^J.  Heermann. 
Thou  loving  Jesu  Christ 200 

Dn  susser  Jesu  Christ—].  Heermann. 
Jesu,  who  didst  stoop  to  prove 200 

yesti  der  du  tatisend  Schmerzen — ^J.  Heermann. 
Jesu,  Victor  over  sin — ^J.  Heerman 201 

Jesu,  Tilger  meiner  Siinden. 
That  Death  knocks  at  my  door,  too  well 201 

Der  Tod  klopft  an  bei  mir,  dass—].  Heermann. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Paul  Gerhardt  AND  HIS  Contemporaries,   a. d.  1620 — 1680.     202 

Hence,  my  heart,  with  such  a  thought 210 

fVeg  mein  Ilerz  mil  dem  Gedanketi — Paul  Gerhardt. 

To  God's  all-gracious  heart  and  mind 213 

Ich  hab'  ergeben  Ilerz  und  Sinn — P.  GERHARDT. 

Full  of  wonder,  full  of  art 215 

V'oller  Wunder,  vollcr  Kutist — P.  Gerhardt. 

1  will  return  unto  the  Lord 22 1 

Ich  will  von  meiner  Missethat — Electress  Louisa. 

Patience  and  humility 225 

Wer  Geduld  und  Demuth  liebet  —  A^TO^  Ulrich. 

Jesu,  priceless  treasure 228 

Jesu  meine  Freude—JoiWNH  Frank. 


CHAPTER  X.  ^ 

The  New  School,     a.d.  1635— 1700 230 

Aphorisms  by  Friedrich  von  Logau 232 

Sinn  spriiche  von  SALOMON  von  Golaw. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Reader,  dost  thou  seek  to  know 233 

Leser,  niochtest  dii  erkcnnen — LoGAU. 
Generous  Love,  why  art  thou  hidden  so  on  earth 235 

Edele  Lieb,  wie  bist  du  hier  so  gar  verborgen--K^V)^Y.\. 
The  gloomy  winter  now  is  o'er 242 

JDer  trilbe  Winter  ist  vorbei — Spee. 
Thou  Good  beyond  compare        249 

Du  unvergleichlkh  Gut — Angelus. 
Morning-star  in  darksome  night 251 

Morgenstern  in  finst'' rer  Nacht — Angelus. 
Aphorisms  by  Angelus 252 

Sinnspriiche  von  ANGELUS  SiLESlUS. 
Jesu,  be  ne'er  forgot 255 

yes7i,  gieb  uns  dein''  Gnad — Anon. 
Why  is  it  that  life  is  no  longer  sad 255 

Woher  denn  kommt^  es  zu  dieser  Zeit — Anon. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Pietists,     a.d.  1660 — 1750 256 

Thou  art  First  and  Best,  Jesu,  sweetest  Rest 267 

Wer  isi  wchl  wie  du,  Jesu  sUsse  Ruh — Freylingiiausen. 
Shall  I  o'er  the  future  fret 270 

SolW  ich  mich  denn  tdglich  krdnken — Spener. 
Jehovah,  God  of  boundless  strength  and  might 274 

Jehovah,  hoher  Gott,  von  Macht  imd  Starke — Bogatzky. 
Courage,  my  heart,  press  cheerly  on 277 

Frisch,frisch  hindurch,  mein  Geist  und  Herz — Dessler. 
Thou  fathomless  Abyss  of  Love 281 

Abgrtind  ivesentlicher  Liebe — P.  F.  Hiller. 
Bed  of  sickness  !  thou  art  sweet 283 

Angenehmes  Ktankenbette — P.  F.  Hiller. 

0  Thou  true  God  alone 286 

Unbegreiflich  Gut,  wahrer  Gott  alleine — ^Joachim  Neander. 

CHAPTER  Xn. 
The  Mystics  and  Separatists,    a.d.  1690 — 1760     .     ,     .       289 

Anoint  us  with  Thy  blessed  Love 293 

Sa'S  uns  mit  deiner  Ltebe — GoTTKRiED  Arnold. 

Full  many  a  way,  full  many  a  jiath 295 

Gar  niancher  IVe^i;,  gar  manche  Bahn — G.  Arnold, 

1  leave  Him  not,  who  came  to  save 296 

Jch  lass  Ihn  nicht,  der  einst gekommen — G.  Arnold. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Lost  in  darkness,  girt  with  dangers — GERHARD  Tersteegen     .       298 

Extract  from  Jesu,  mein  Erbarmer,  hore. 
I  lose  me  in  the  thought 302 

Wofindich  tnich — G.  TERSTEEGEN. 
Out !  out,  away  ! 303 

Aus,  aus,  hinaus — G.  TERSTEEGEN. 
Within  !  within,  O  turn 303 

Hinein,  hinein — G.  Tersteegen. 
Lovely,  shadowy,  soft,  and  still 304 

Lieblich,  duiikel,  sanft  und  stille — G.  Tersteegen. 
To  praise  the  Cross  while  yet  untried — G.  Tersteegen   .     .     .       304 

Das  Kreuz  zu  ruhmen  weun  es  f^rn. 

Nay  !  not  sore  the  Cross's  weight 304 

AV///,  das  Kreuz  hat  keine  Last — G.  Tirsteegen. 
Ah  God !  the  world  hath  nought  to  please 304 

Ach,  Gott,  es  taugt  doch  draussen  nicht — G.  Tersteegen. 
Jesu,  day  by  day 309 

yesu,  geh  voran — ZiNZENDORF. 
Such  the  King  will  stoop  to  and  embrace 310 

Soicfie  L,-ntt  wilt  der  A'onig  kiissen — ZiNZENDORF. 
Lamp  within  me  !  brightly  bum  and  glow 311 

Brenne  hell  du  I.at?tpe  ineiner  Seele — Albertini. 


CHAPTER  XIIL 
Modern  Times.    a.d.  1750 — 1850 313 

When  these  brief  trial-days  are  spent 318 

Nach  einer  Priifung  kurzer  7'age — Gellert. 
O  ye,  who  from  your  earliest  youth 321 

Die  ihr,  des  Lebetts  edle  zeit — Cramer. 
Trembling  T  rejoice 329 

Zitternd freW  ich  tnich — Klopsiock. 
Round  their  planet-!  roll  the  moons 332 

Um  Erden  wandeln  Monde — Kl-orsTOCK. 
Rise  again  !  yes,  rise  again  wilt  thou 333 

Att/terstehn,ja  auferstehn  ivirstdu — Kl.OPSTOCK. 
At  dead  of  night  sleep  took  her  flight 337 

C/m  Mitternacht  bin  ich  erwacht — RtJCKERT. 
In  Bethleliem  the  Lord  was  born 338 

Er  ist  in  Bethle/iem  geboren — RiicKERT. 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGF. 

PAUL  GERHARDT Frontispiece    202 

HANS  SACHS  Vignette  on  Titlepage. 

ULRICH   VON    HUTTEN To  face        98 

JUSTUS  JONAS To  face     115 

PAUL  EBER To  face     119 

FRIEDRICH   GOTTLIEB   KLOPSTOCK     .  " To  face     323 


"A  PREFACE  TO  ALL  GOOD  HYMN-BOOKS." 
By  Dr.  Martin  Luther,  1543. 

Lady  Musick  speaketh. 

Of  all  the  joys  that  are  on  earth 
Is  none  more  dear  nor  higher  worth, 
Than  what  in  my  sweet  songs  is  found 
And  instruments  of  various  sound. 
Where  friends  and  comrades  sing  in  tune, 
All  evil  passions  vanish  soon ; 
Hate,  anger,  envy,  cannot  stay. 
All  gloom  and  heartache  melt  away ; 
The  lust  of  wealth,  the  cares  that  cling. 
Are  all  forgotten  while  we  sing. 
Freely  we  take  our  joy  herein, 
For  this  sweet  pleasure  is  no  sin, 
But  pleaseth  God  far  more,  we  know. 
Than  any  joys  the  world  can  show ; 
The  devil's  work  it  doth  impede 
And  hinders  many  a  deadly  deed. 
So  fared  it  with  King  Saul  of  old ; 
When  David  struck  his  harp  of  gold, 
So  sweet  and  clear  its  tones  rang  out, 
Saul's  murderous  thoughts  were  put  to  rout. 
The  heart  grows  still  when  I  am  heard. 
And  opens  to  God's  Truth  and  Word ; 

S.L.  VI.  B 


CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


So  are  we  by  Elisha  taught, 

Who  on  the  harp  the  Spirit  sought. 

The  best  time  o'  the  year  is  mine, 
When  all  the  little  birds  combine 
To  sing  until  the  earth  and  air 
Are  filled  with  sweet  sounds  everywhere ; 
And  most  the  tender  nightingale 
Makes  joyful  every  wood  and  dale, 
Singing  her  love-song  o'er  and  o'er. 
For  which  we  thank  her  evermore. 
But  yet  more  thanks  are  due  from  us 
To  the  dear  Lord  who  made  her  thus, 
A  singer  apt  to  touch  the  heart. 
Mistress  of  all  my  dearest  art. 
To  God  she  sings  by  night  and  day, 
Unwearied,  praising  Him  alway ; 
Him  I  too  laud  in  every  song, 
To  Whom  all  thanks  and  praise  belong. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  EARLY   DAWN  OF  GERMAN   SACRED   POETRY  AND  SONG. 
A.D.  800—900. 

Each  Christian  people  has  brought  its  own  charac- 
teristic tribute  to  the  vast  treasury  of  devotional 
thought  and  literature,  which  is  the  common  property 
of  the  whole  Christian  Church.  The  tribute  of  Ger- 
many is  pre-eminently  that  of  sacred  song,  of  verse 
and  music  in  combination  and  adapted  for  use  in  the 
Church  and  among  the  people.  Her  literature  begins 
with  a  work  of  reUgious  poetry,  and  from  that  time 
onwards  has  been  always  remarkably  rich  in  pro- 
ductions of  this  class.  The  very  genius  of  the  people 
— its  inborn  love  for  music,  especially  for  part-singing, 
its  bent  towards  the  expression  of  feeling  in  the  lyrical 
form — peculiarly  fitted  it  for  this  work;  and  the  result 
has  been  the  creation  of  a  literature  of  hymns  and 
hymn-tunes,  which  has  had  a  wide  influence  not  only 
within  but  beyond  Germany.  The  hymn-books  of 
Denmark,  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Iceland,  and  in  part 
those  of  Holland,  consist,  to  a  large  extent  (until 
recently  it  would  have  been  correct,  we  believe,  to  say, 
almost  entirely),  of  translations  and  adaptations  from 
the  German ;  which  have,  however,  become  so  com- 

B  2 


4  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY, 

pletely  naturalized  among  the  people  that  their  alien 
origin  is  forgotten,  and  they  have  furnished  the  model 
on  which  the  hymns  of  native  growth  have  been  com- 
posed. In  Switzerland,  in  the  Protestant  Church  of 
France,  and  to  some  extent  in  Holland,  the  spread  of 
the  German  hymns  has  been  checked  by  the  influence 
of  the  Calvinistic  Churches,  which  have  always  feared 
to  give  a  prominent  place  to  art  of  any  kind  in  the 
worship  of  God — rather  indeed  have  allowed  it  to 
creep  in  on  sufferance,  than  delighted  to  introduce  it 
as  a  free-will  offering  of  beauty.  Yet  here,  too,  hymns 
adopted  from  the  German,  or  of  the  German  type, 
have  gradually  made  their  way.  In  England  the 
national  character  of  our  Reformation  has  left  less 
scope  for  the  influence  of  foreign  elements.  Our 
Church  has  distinguished  its  services  more  by  the 
beauty  of  its  prayers  than  its  hymns,  while  our  Non- 
conformist sects  have  been  strongly  imbued  with 
those  Calvinistic  views  of  worship  of  whose  influence 
we  have  just  spoken.  But  a  people  with  so  marked 
a  genius  for  poetry  as  the  English,  could  not  but  use 
their  gift  in  the  service  of  religion  as  well  as  in  secular 
ways;  though  the  fact  that  hymns  occupied  a  less  im- 
portant place  in  the  religious  worship  of  England  than 
Germany,  produced  a  marked  difference  in  form  in  the 
compositions  of  the  two  countries.  Germany's  pre- 
eminence is  in  her  hymns  ;  but  in  sacred  poetry  not 
of  this  class,  she  has  had  no  names  of  equal  rank  with 
those  of  Milton  or  Herbert  of  old,  or  Keble,  Coleridge, 
and  Wordsworth  in  the  present  day.  In  course  of  time, 
however,  her  hymns  reached  us  too.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  acquaintance  of  the  Wesleys  with  the 
stores  of  her  hymnology  led  them  to  see  both  the 


GERMAN  HYMNOLOGY. 


beauty  of  this  form  of  poetry  and  the  immense 
advantages  that  might  be  drawn  from  it,  in  spreading 
a  knowledge  of  the  truth  among  the  common  people, 
and  in  increasing  the  warmth  and  attractiveness  of 
worship.  They  not  only  translated  many  German 
hymns,  but  wrote  a  large  number  themselves  in  the 
same  style  ;  and  it  is  from  their  time  that  the  impulse 
dates  which  has  led  to  the  study  of  hymnology,  not 
only  of  English  or  German,  but  also  of  Latin  and 
Eastern  growth,  and  to  the  rise  among  us  of  a  large 
number  of  new  and  very  good  hymn-writers  and 
hymn-books. 

The  story  of  the  hymnology  of  Germany  in  the 
sense  we  have  here  given  it,  begins  properly  speaking 
with  the  Reformation.  It  was  not  until  the  people 
possessed  the  word  of  God  and  liberty  to  worship 
Him  in  their  own  language,  that  such  a  body  of 
hymns  could  be  created,  though  vernacular  hymns 
and  sacred  lyrics  had  existed  in  Germany  throughout 
the  Middle  Ages.  But  it  was  then  that  a  great  out- 
burst of  national  poetry  and  music  took  place  which 
reflected  the  spirit  of  those  times;  and  on  a  somewhat 
smaller  scale  the  same  thing  has  happened  both  before 
and  since  that  time  at  every  great  crisis  in  the  history 
of  the  German  people.  The  most  marked  of  these 
periods  are  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries — the 
era  of  the  Crusades  abroad  and  the  rise  of  the  great 
cities  at  home  ;  the  Reformation  ;  the  great  struggle 
for  religious  liberty  in  the  seventeenth  century  ;  and 
the  revival  of  literature  towards  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  after  the  exhaustion  that  followed 
the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

As  far  back,  however,  as  we  hear  anything  of  the 


6  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY, 

German  race,  we  hear  of  their  love  for  song.  They 
sang  hymns,  we  are  told,  in  their  heathen  worship,  and 
lays  in  honour  of  their  heroes  at  their  banquets  ;  and 
their  heaven  was  pictured  as  echoing  with  the  songs 
of  the  brave  heroes  who  had  fallen  in  battle.  The 
first  dawn  of  Christianity  came  to  the  Gothic  races 
from  Greece,  but  in  Southern  Germany  it  seems  to- 
have  proceeded  from  the  many  missionaries  who  were 
sent  out  by  the  British  and  Irish  monasteries  in  the 
sixth  century,  who  sought  no  special  authorization 
from  Rome,  and  did  not  carry  with  them  the  Roman 
liturgy.  But  the  chief  instruments  in  the  conversion 
of  the  remoter  regions  were  the  Anglo-Saxon  monk 
Winifred,  better  known  as  St.  Boniface,  who  was 
martyred  in  755,  and  Charlemagne.  Both  these  great 
men  saw  the  imperative  need  of  some  centre  of  unity 
and  order  to  restore  society  and  preserve  anything  of 
faith  or  of  letters  in  those  times  of  utter  chaos  and 
discord,  and  believed  that  they  had  found  the  means 
to  this  end  in  the  unity  of  the  Church.  That  they 
greatly  promoted  civilization  there  is  no  doubt,  but 
their  work,  even  that  of  Boniface,  had  its  darker 
side,  where  it  came  in  contact  with  an  already 
existing  Christianity,  and  forcibly  repressed  what  was 
national  and  distinctive  in  its  character.  For  wherever 
they  went  they  introduced  at  once  not  only  the 
Christian  religion,  but  the  hierarchy  and  liturgy  of 
Rome,  and  with  it  the  Gregorian  Church  music  and 
the  Latin  hymns. 

This  style  of  music  owes  its  origin  to  Pope  Gregory 
the  Great,  who  ascended  the  papal  chair  in  590,  and 
thenceforward  devoted  his  extraordinary  abilities  and 
energy  to  securing  the  unity  and  independence  of  the 


AMBROSIAN  CHURCH  MUSIC.  r 

Church.  Here,  however,  we  are  only  concerned  with 
his  influence  on  Church  music.  Before  his  time  the 
Ambrosian  style  had  been  widely  prevalent  through 
the  Western  Church.  It  was  founded  on  the  Greek 
system  of  music,  and  was  introduced  by  St.  Ambrose, 
with  the  assistance  of  Pope  Damasius,  into  the  Great 
Church  of  Milan  in  the  year  386.  A  true  instinct 
taught  St.  Ambrose  to  adopt  for  his  hymns  the  most 
rhythmical  form  of  Latin  verse  that  was  then  in  use, 
and  for  his  tunes  a  popular  and  congregational  style 
of  melody,  and  thus  both  spread  rapidly  through 
the  Western  Church,  and  became  a  powerful  engine 
for  affecting  the  minds  of  the  people  of  all  classes. 
In  a  well-known  passage  of  his  "  Confessions,"^  St. 
Augustine  tells  us  (he  is  addressing  our  Lord) : — 
"  How  did  I  weep,  in  Thy  Hymns  and  Canticles, 
touched  to  the  quick  by  the  voices  of  Thy  sweet- 
attuned  Church !  The  voices  flowed  into  my  ears, 
and  the  Truth  distilled  into  my  heart,  whence  the 
affections  of  my  devotion  overflowed,  and  tears  ran 
down,  and  happy  was  I  therein.  Not  long  had  the 
Church  of  Milan  begun  to  use  this  kind  of  conso- 
lation and  exhortation,  the  brethren  zealously  join- 
ing with  harmony  of  voice  and  hearts.  For  it  was  a 
year,  or  not  much  more,  that  Justina,  mother  to  the 
Emperor  Valentinian,  a  child,  persecuted  Thy  servant, 
Ambrose,  in  favour  of  her  heresy,  to  which  she  was 
seduced  by  the  Arians.  The  devout  people  kept 
watch  in  the  Church,  ready  to  die  with  their  bishop, 
Thy  servant.  Then  it  was  first  instituted  that  after 
the  manners  of  the  Eastern  Churches,  hymns  and 
psalms  should  be  sung,  lest  the  people  should  wax 

1  Library  of  the  Fathers.     St.  Augustine's  "Confessions,"  p.  166. 


8  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

faint  through  the  tediousness  of  service ;  and  from 
that  day  to  this  the  custom  is  retained,  almost  all 
The  congregations  throughout  other  parts  of  the 
world  following  herein." 

One  tune  from  the  Ambrosian  period  is  still  pre- 
served in  Germany  to  the  present  day,  in  connexion 
with  Luther's  German  version  of  St.  Ambrose's  great 
hymn,  Vetii  Redemptor  gentium.  It  is  a  simple, 
dignified,  somewhat  quaint  melody.^ 

In  course  of  time,  however,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
Church  music  had  become  deteriorated  by  the  in- 
troduction of  a  more  secular  style,  and  that  this 
was  one  cause  of  the  reaction  under  Gregory  the 
Great.  Yet  another  may  perhaps  be  found  in 
the  fact  that  the  Ambrosian  style  was  an  intrinsically 
congregational  method  of  singing,  which  enabled  all 
the  people  to  bear  a  part,  and  not  a  small  one,  in  the 
service ;  while  the  Gregorian,  which  had  less  melody 
and  rhythm,  and  was  extremely  difficult  to  acquire, 
was  necessarily  restricted  to  the  clergy  and  the 
trained  choir,  and  therefore  harmonized  better  with 
the  hierarchical  principles  of  Gregory.  It  was 
natural,  therefore,  that  from  this  period  onwards,  as 
the  hierarchical  element  in  the  Church  gained  strength, 
this  system  should  have  rapidly  supplanted  its  rival ; 
nor  would  it  be  fair  to  say  that  this  was  altogether 
without  its  advantage,  for  in  those  distracted  times  the 
impulse  towards  unity  in  the  Church  was  in  many  ways 
a  true  instinct  towards  self-preservation,  and  a  common 
liturgy  is  one  of  the  strongest  bonds  of  a  common 

1  It  may  be  found  in  German  tune-books  under  the  name  of  *'  Nun 
kommt  der  Heidenheiland,"  and  is  No.  72  in  the  Chorale-Book  for 
England. 


GREGORIAN  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


religious  life.  There  is,  too,  undoubtedly  much 
grandeur  and  beauty  in  this  style,  which  adapt  it 
for  certain  forms  and  occasions  of  worship;  but  its 
stiffness  and  monotony,  and  its  aptness  to  degenerate 
into  a  nasal  unmusical  chant  in  the  hands  of  un- 
trained singers,  unfit  it  for  truly  popular  and  common 
use.  It  has  maintained  its  place  in  the  Roman 
Church  to  the  present  day,  and  has  exerted  a  strong 
influence  on  the  music  of  the  reformed  Churches. 
During  the  eighteenth  century  this  influence  showed 
itself  markedly  in  Germany  in  the  adoption  of  a 
certain  slow  and  uniform  style  of  singing  the  old 
chorales,  admitting  only  notes  of  equal  length,  and 
in  "  common  "  time.  Recently  there  has  again  been 
a  reaction  towards  the  freer  and  more  varied  rhythm 
of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  when  the 
laity  delighted  to  assert  their  right  to  a  share  in  the 
Christian  priesthood,  by  bearing  a  part  in  the  public 
service  of  God. 

One  thing  that  helped  to  make  the  Gregorian 
chanting  an  aff'air  of  the  learned,  was  the  very  com- 
plicated method  of  notation  then  employed,  and  it 
was  soon  found  necessary  to  establish  schools,  in 
which  singers  went  through  a  training  that  lasted 
often  for  years.  Gregory  founded  a  famous  school 
in  Rome,  with  a  prior  and  four  masters,  and  for  many 
generations  afterwards  the  sofa  was  shown  on  which 
he  used  to  recline  while  himself  examining  the 
scholars.  They  were  mostly  orphan  boys  who  were 
entirely  maintained  here,  and  afterwards  received 
appointments  from  the  Pope.  In  the  days  of  King 
Ethelbert,  forty  of  them  came  to  England,  and  intro- 
duced the  Gregorian  music  into  this  countrj'. 


lo  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Charlemagne,  like  our  own  Alfred,  was  an  enthu- 
siastic lover  of  Church  music,  and  especially  of  this 
style  which  he  had  learnt  to  know  in  Rome.  In 
his  own  chapel  he  carefully  noted  the  powers  of  all 
the  priests  and  singers,  and  sometimes  acted  as 
choir-master  himself,  in  which  capacity  he  proved 
a  very  strict,  often  severe  master.  He  extinguished 
the  last  remnants  of  the  Ambrosian  style  at  Milan, 
and  it  was  with  his  approval  that  Pope  Leo  III. 
(795 — 8io)  imposed  a  penalty  of  exile  or  imprison- 
ment on  any  singer  who  might  deviate  from  the 
orthodox  Cantus  finmis  et  choral  is.  He  not  only 
founded  schools  of  music  in  France,  but  throughout 
Germany,  at  Fulda,  Mayence,  Treves,  Reichenau, 
and  other  places.  Trained  singers  from  the  famous 
choirs  in  Rome  were  sent  for  to  take  charge  of 
these  institutions,  and  seem  to  have  been  not  a 
little  shocked  at  first  by  the  barbarism  of  their 
pupils.  One  says  that  their  notion  of  singing  in 
Church  was  to  howl  like  wild  beasts  ;  while  another, 
Johannes  Didimus,  in  his  Life  of  Gregory,  affirms 
that — "  These  gigantic  bodies,  whose  voices  roar  like 
thunder,  cannot  imitate  our  sweet  tones,  for  their 
barbarous  and  ever-thirsty  throats  can  only  produce 
sounds  as  harsh  as  those  of  a  loaded  waggon  passing 
over  a  rough  road." 

The  new  style  of  Church  music  naturally  found 
its  most  zealous  promoters  in  the  cloisters,  among 
whom  we  may  name  Rabanus  Maurus,  a  pupil  of 
Alcuin,  and  abbot  of  the  great  convent  of  Fulda,  and 
Walafrid  (nicknamed  Strabo),  abbot  of  Reichenau. 
The  Benedictine  monasteries  which  were  hence- 
forward founded  in  increasing  numbers  north  of  the 


A  BENEDICTINE  MONASTERY.  ii 

Alps,  were  for  the  next  two  or  three  centuries,  the 
asylums  where  arts  and  letters  were  preser\'ed  through 
the  storms  of  those  stormy  times.  Every  convent, 
in  fact,  constituted  a  little  town  in  itself  when  it  had 
attained  its  full  proportions.  It  began  generally  in 
the  humblest  manner.  The  abbot  of  some  consider- 
able monastery  would  send  a  small  band  of  mis- 
sionary monks  to  some  spot,  chosen  cither  for  its 
natural  advantages,  or  from  the  needs,  or  perhaps 
the  earnestly-expressed  wishes,  of  the  surrounding 
population.  First,  the  monks  would  fell  the  trees, 
and  erect  temporary  huts  for  themselves  ;  then  the 
chapel  was  built  and  service  celebrated  ;  then  more 
permanent  abodes  were  constructed,  and  gardens 
and  fields  were  brought  into  cultivation.  Then,  if 
possible,  the  relics  of  some  saint  were  procured,  and 
deposited  within  the  altar  to  give  a  special  sanctity 
to  the  place,  and  attract  worshippers  in  the  hope  of 
obtaining  miraculous  cures,  and  henceforward  the 
number  of  monks  and  dependants  would  rapidly 
increase.  When  the  institution  was  completed,  we 
know  by  plans  still  preserved  in  the  archives  of 
St.  Gall,  that  it  would  consist  of  the  church  as  centre, 
the  monks'  dwellings,  the  cloisters,  and  the  convent 
school  within  the  inner  inclosure ;  around  which 
clustered  handsome  buildings  for  the  abbot's  and 
physician's  houses  ;  for  the  secular  school,  the  hospital, 
the  lodgings  for  travellers,  whether  monks  or  laymen  ; 
and  the  smaller  abodes  and  workshops  necessary 
for  the  various  artificers  whose  crafts  here  found 
employment.  The  whole  of  this  little  town,  so  to 
speak,  was  itself  inclosed  within  a  ditch,  and  in  later 
times  fortified  with  walls  and  towers. 


12  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Among  the  most  complete  and  famous  of  these 
monasteries  was  that  of  St.  Gall.  In  that  lonely 
but  sheltered  spot  on  the  lower  slopes  of  the  Alps, 
and  not  far  from  Lake  Constance,  which  gave  access 
to  Southern  Germany,  there  was  cherished  for  cen- 
turies a  sacred  fire  of  true  enthusiasm  for  learning, 
which  spread  its  light  by  'degrees  into  many  a  half- 
barbarous  court  and  distant  convent.  Here  the 
earliest  and  most  strenuous  efforts  were  made  to 
tame  the  rough  mother-tongue  of  the  Germans,  and 
teach  it  to  express  as  far  as  might  be  the  shades  of 
thought  and  feeling  which  the  languages  of  Greece 
and  Rome  had  so  marvellously  embodied,  and  all 
that  the  Christian  faith  had  to  say  besides.  There 
exists  in  its  archives  a  very  ancient  Latin  and  German 
dictionary  traditionally  ascribed  to  St.  Gall  himself 
(died  ^'^^),  and  many  other  glossaries,  paraphrases,  and 
interlinear  translations  from  the  Latin.  Among  those 
who  thus  occupied  themselves  in  the  ninth  century 
was  a  monk  -named  Notker,  whom  Walafrid,  then 
Dean  of  St.  Gall's,  strongly  urged  to  devote  himself 
to  sacred  poetry.  He  wrote,  however,  in  Latin,  and 
his  hymns  therefore  concern  our  subject  only  because 
he  was  the  originator  of  a  form  of  Latin  hymnology, 
which  when  translated  into  German  gave  rise  to  the 
earliest  German  hymns,  properly  so  called,  with  which 
we  are  acquainted.  This  was  the  Latin  Sequence 
or  Prose.  It  was  customary  in  all  cases  where  a 
Hallelujah  was  introduced  to  prolong  the  last  syllable, 
and  to  sing  on  the  vowel  "ah"  a  series  of  elaborate 
passages  intended  to  represent  an  outburst  of  jubi- 
lant feeling.  These  were  termed  Sequences,  because 
they  followed  the  Hallelujah  and  repeated  its  notes, 


NO  TKERS  SEQ  UENCES.  1 3 

and  were  of  course  sung  without  words.  What 
Notker  did  was  to  write  words  for  them,  and  he  tells 
us  himself  how  he  came  to  do  it,  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  Bishop  Luitward,  to  whom  he  dedicated  a  volume 
of  these  compositions.  "  When  I  was  yet  young  and 
could  not  always  succeed  in  retaining  in  my  memory 
the  long-drawn  melodies  on  the  last  syllable  of  the 
Hallelujah,  I  cast  about  in  my  mind  for  some  method 
of  making  them  easier  to  remember.  Now  it  happened 
that  a  certain  priest  from  Gimedia  came  to  us  who 
had  an  Antiphonarium,  wherein  were  written  some 
strophes  to  these  melodies,  but  indeed  by  no  means 
free  from  faults.  This  put  it  into  my  mind  to 
compose  others  for  myself  after  the  same  manner. 
I  showed  them  to  my  teacher,  Yso,  whom  they 
pleased  on  the  whole,  only  he  remarked,  that  as  many 
notes  as  there  were  in  the  music,  so  many  words 
must  there  be  in  the  text.  At  this  suggestion  I 
went  through  my  work  again,  and  now  Yso  accepted 
it  with  full  approbation,  and  gave  the  text  to  the 
boys  to  sing."  These  Sequences  spread  rapidly,  for 
they  supplied  the  want  that  was  beginning  to  be 
felt  of  melodies  in  which  sometimes  the  people  could 
join,  and  words  which  could  be  adapted  to  special 
occasions  beyond  the  ordinary  service  of  the  mass. 
They  increased  in  number  therefore  more  quickly 
than  the  hymns  properly  so  called,  and  gradually 
assumed  a  strictly  metrical  form,  which  at  first  they 
did  not  possess.  Notker  himself  composed  thirty- 
five  of  them  ;  and  one  which  still  finds  a  place  in 
our  own  Burial  Service,  the  "  Media  vita  in  mortc," 
is  traditionally  ascribed  to  him,  and  said  to  have 
been  written  while  watching  some  workmen  building 


14  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

the  bridge  of  St.  Martin  at  the  peril  of  their  lives. 
It  cannot  however  be  certainly  traced  beyond  the 
eleventh  century,  but  from  that  time  onwards  it  was 
in  use  in  the  Latin,  and  afterwards  in  a  German 
version  as  a  battle-song,  which  was  supposed  to  exert 
magical  influences. 

It  is  to  this  same  ninth  century,  and  in  one  instance, 
to  the  teachings  of  the  convent  of  St.  Gall,  that  we  owe 
the  two  earliest  specimens  of  German  sacred  poetry. 
They  are  both  Harmonies  of  the   Gospels,   and  it 
strikingly  shows  the  affinity  of  the  Teutonic  mind  for 
the  Jewish  Scriptures,  that  the  earliest  monuments  of 
its  written  literature  are  all  drawn  from  this  source — 
the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Gothic  by  Ulphilas, 
the  great  Bishop  of  the  Goths,  who  died  in  388,  and 
the  two  books  now  before  us.     The  earliest  of  them 
is   called    "  The    Heliand,"    or    the    Saviour,   and   is 
written  in  Saxon,  therefore  in  the  ancient  Low  German 
dialect.     It  is  said  to  have  been  suggested  by  Louis 
the    Pious    to    teach    the    newly-converted    Saxons 
something  of  the   faith  they  had   accepted,  and   to 
have  been  carried  out  by  a  peasant  who  heard  in  his 
sleep   a  voice   summoning  him   to   the  undertaking. 
About  thirty  years  later,  a  similar  task  was  achieved 
by  Otfried,  a  monk  probably  of  Alemannic  race,  who 
had  been  educated  at  first  at  Fulda  under  Rabanus 
Maurus,  then  had  lived  many  years  in  St.  Gall,  and 
finally  removed  to  Weissenburg  in  Alsace,  another  of 
the  numerous  monasteries  scattered  along  the  borders 
of  Switzerland,  where  the  mountains  break  down  to 
the  lakes  and  cultivated  country  of  Northern  Europe. 
Though   they  thus   belong  to    the   same   period   of 
time,  these  works  were  composed  under  widely  dif- 


THE  H ELI  AND.  15 


ferent  circumstances.  In  Southern  Germany  the 
Romans  had  founded  large  cities,  and  Roman  and 
Celtic  elements  were  mingled  with  the  Teutonic 
blood.  Christianity  had  early  made  its  way  there, 
and  a  considerable  amount  of  it  existed  before  the 
earliest  missionaries  from  Rome  came  thither.  In 
the  seventh  century  St.  Emmeran  found  a  multitude 
of  priests  and  churches  in  -  Bavaria  ;  the  land  had 
already  gloried  in  several  native  saints  before  the  time 
of  Charlemagne ;  and  culture  must  have  made  no  in- 
considerable progress,  when  we  are  told  that  the  noble 
lady  Theudelinde  was  able  to  maintain  a  pious  and 
learned  correspondence  with  Pope  Gregory  the  Great. 
In  Northern  Germany,  on  the  other  hand,  little  had 
been  done  for  the  introduction  of  Christianity  until 
Charlemagne  converted  the  people  by  force,  and 
the  country  long  remained  scantily  populated  and 
unsettled.  Vast  tracts  of  forest  or  heath  were  inter- 
rupted by  solitary  farmsteads  of  immense  extent, 
where  cattle  and  sheep  were  the  chief  source  of 
wealth  ;  for,  until  the  close  of  the  tenth  century,  there 
was  but  little  agriculture ;  towns  and  monasteries 
existed  but  in  small  numbers  and  at  great  distances, 
and  it  was  long  before  any  churches  except  the 
convent  chapels  were  built.  Slowly  the  new  religion 
permeated  this  wild  and  scattered  people ;  but  as  it 
did  so,  it  rooted  itself  the  more  deeply  in  the  popular 
life,  and  bore  less  of  the  impress  of  the  hierarchical 
and  Roman  clement  than  the  religion  of  Southern 
Germany,  a  distinction  which  has  maintained  itself 
even  to  the  present  day. 

The   form  of  the  two  works  is  contrasted  as  we 
might  expect  from  their  origin  ;  the  Heliand  is  written 


1 6  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

in  the  alliterative  measure  of  the  ancient  ballads,  but 
without  strophes ;  the  work  of  Otfried  is  composed  in 
four-lined  verses  with  rhyme.  Rhyme  is  a  peculiarly 
Christian  ornament  of  verse,  and  the  struggle  was 
long  between  accented  and  rhymed  forms  of  poetry, 
and  the  ancient  forms  of  classical  metre.  Otfried's 
is  the  first  rhymed  poem  we  possess,  and  thus  has 
always  marked  an  important  epoch  in  European 
literature.  The  Heliand  is  not  so  much  a  Harmony 
of  the  Gospels  as  a  Saxon  epic  .on  the  life  of  our 
Lord,  and  it  seems  to  have  been  intended  to  form 
part  of  a  larger  work  embracing  the  whole  course  of 
Scripture  History.  The  style  is  simple  and  naive: 
the  writer  nowhere  brings  forward  his  own  personality, 
but  is  evidently  inspired  by  a  strong  love  to  his 
subject  The  relation  of  the  disciples,  and  implicitly 
the  relation  of  all  Christians  to  their  Lord,  is  con- 
ceived after  the  true  Teutonic  type  as  that  of  followers 
bound  by  an  oath  to  their  duke  or  leader ;  all  that 
expresses  personal  loyalty  and  obedience  on  the  one 
hand,  or  affectionate  condescension  on  the  other,  is 
brought  out  with  quick  insight  and  strong  feeling. 
In  general,  the  writer  keeps  very  close  to  his 
authorities,  but  in  some  passages,  where  the  heathen 
lays  may  have  been  recalled  to  his  mind,  he  permits 
himself  a  more  excursive  description,  and  echoes  of 
the  old  Scandinavian  ballads  float  through  his  verse. 
The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  specially  attracts  him, 
and  he  gives  it  with  fulness  and  evident  predilection. 

Otfried,  on  the  other  hand,  continually  betrays 
his  acquaintance  with  classical  models,  and  the 
self-consciousness  of  the  educated  barbarian  in 
the  presence  of  a  higher  culture.     He  is  constantly 


OTFRIED  OF  WEISSENBURG.  17 

lamenting  his  own  incompetence  and  the  barbarism 
of  the  German  tongue  ;  he  gives  fewer  facts  and  less 
of  the  distinctly  ethical  discourses  than  his  Saxon 
contemporary ;  but  he  much  more  frequently  in- 
troduces episodes,  sometimes  similes  or  allegories 
from  ecclesiastical  works,  sometimes  mystical  and 
moral  reflections  of  his  own.  But  there  are  passages 
where  he  rises  to  warmth  and  true  poetry,  as  where, 
in  describing  the  journey  of  the  Magi,  he  speaks  of 
the  longing  of  the  soul  for  its  heavenly  fatherland ; 
and  the  very  idea  of  thus  endeavouring  to  make  the 
grounds  of  their  faith  intelligible  to  the  common 
people,  marks  him  out  as  no  common  man. 

The  following  is  a  version  of  the  passage  just 
mentioned.  The  rhyme  and  metre  of  the  original  are 
very  irregular,  and  here  and  there  a  rhyme  is  wanting 
altogether ;  still,  as  its  structure  constitutes  a  marked 
difference  between  this  poem  and  its  predecessors,  it 
seemed  best  to  imitate,  as  far  as  possible,  its  rhythm, 
while  keeping  close  to  the  meaning ;  but  in  such  a 
process  somewhat  of  the  poetical  element  is  apt  to 
vanish. 

MYSTICE  DE  REVERSIONE  MAGORUM  AD 
PATRIAM. 

Now  wameth  us  the  Wise  Men's  fare 
That  hereof  we  be  well  aware, 
How  we  should  to  ourselves  take  heed, 
And  seek  our  native  land  with  speed. 

Ye  wot  not  what  I  say,  I  wis  ; 
That  land  is  hight  the  Paradise  : 
I  verily  could  laud  it  sore, 
For  word^s  fail  me  nevermore. 
S.1..V1.  C 


CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

But  if  of  all  my  members  each 
Were  gifted  with  the  gift  of  speech, 
Yet  could  not  any  words  avail 
To  tell  out  all  its  wondrous  tale. 

Never  couldst  thou  believe  it  right 
Save  thou  shouldst  see  it  with  thy  sight, 
Nor  couldst  thou  well,  not  even  then, 
Tell  what  thou  saw'st  to  other  men. 

For  there  is  life  withouten  doom, 
And  there  is  light  withouten  gloom  ; 
There  wonneth  the  angelic  race. 
And  everlasting  blessedness. 

We  have  forsaken  it,  alas  ! 
Well  may  we  rue  that  came  to  pass ; 
Well  may  we  never  stay  to  weep 
After  the  home  we  did  not  keep. 

We  fared  forth  hastily  from  thence 
Misled  by  pride  and  arrogance, 
Lured  in  some  fond  and  secret  guise, 
By  lusts  that  tempted  us  with  lies. 

Ah  !  then  we  list  not  to  obey. 
And  bear  the  mark  thereof  alway  ! 
Now  here  as  exiles  we  must  stand 
Sore  weeping  in  an  alien  land  : 

Unused,  alas  !  from  age  to  age 
Lieth  our  proper  heritage, 
Untasted  what  it  hath  of  good, — 
So  wrought  for  us  our  haughty  mood. 

We  now  must  suffer  and  be  sad 
For  lack  of  joy  we  might  have  had  ; 
We  now  must  bear,  as  best  we  may. 
Sore  want  and  many  a  bitter  day. 

Now  full  of  sorrow  we  bemoan 
Our  lot  in  this  land  not  our  own, 
And  bear  the  wounds  that  sin  doth  smite. 


OTFRIED  OF  WEISSENBURG.  19 

And  many  griefs  of  our  sad  plight. 

Here  many  a  trial  night  and  day 
Lurketh  in  wait  beside  our  way, 
And  yet  we  orphans  sad  and  weak 
Not  yet  our  home  are  fain  to  seek. 

Ah,  well-a-day,  thou  stranger  land  ! 
Hard  art  thou  truly  to  our  band, 
Heavy  art  thou  and  hast  no  ruth, 
I  tell  thee  this  in  very  truth. 

Sore  griefs  do  here  the  heart  beset 
That  for  its  home  is  pining  yet : 
Well  have  I  found  this  true  in  me. 
Nought  joyous  have  I  met  in  thee. 

The  only  gifts  thou  dost  bestow 
Are  a  he^rt  laden  with  its  woe, 
A  mood  that  aye  is  fain  to  weep, 
And  sorrows  manifold  and  deep. 

But  if  into  our  mind  it  come 
That  we  once  more  will  seek  our  home, 
And  if  our  hearts  would  swift  return. 
And  with  a  dolorous  longing  yearn  : 

Then  like  the  Wise  Men  shall  we  fare 
By  a  new  road  to  bring  us  there, 
Seeking  the  true  way  that  will  lead 
Back  to  the  home  we  sorely  need. 

That  path,  I  wot,  is  fair  and  sweet, 
But  must  be  trod  with  washen  feet : 
Such  is  the  manner,  well  I  ween, 
Of  men  that  would  thereon  be  seen. 

Kindness  must  in  thy  soul  be  bred, 
And  great  and  willing  lowlihead ; 
And,  most  of  all,  within  thy  heart 
True  love  must  live  in  every  part. 

Learn  thou  to  find  thy  joy  in  guise 
Of  fair  and  ready  sacrifice ; 
C  2 


I 
CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


Yield  to  the  good  thy  will  alway, 
And  never  thine  own  lusts  obey. 

Within  the  love-shrine  of  thy  heart, 
Let  love  of  this  world  have  no  part  \ 
From  things  of  passing  time  now  flee, 
Their  very  loss  shall  profit  thee. 

Remember  what  I  erst  did  say, 
This  is  that  new  and  other  way  \ 
Choose  thou  to  tread  it,  as  I  rede, 
And  surely  to  thy  home  'twill  lead. 

And  when  thou  dost  that  life  possess, 
And  knowest  all  its  blessedness, 
To  God  Himself  wilt  thou  be  dear, 
And  nevermore  know  harm  or  fear. 


CHAPTER   11. 


LONG       TWILIGHT. 


A.D.    900 — 1 100. 

The  two  centuries  we  have  now  reached  are  a  very 
barren  period  for  literature.  Charlemagne  had  given 
an  impulse  to  arts  and  letters  of  which  the  effects  are 
traceable  as  long  as  there  were  any  pupils  left  of  the 
circle  of  learned  men  whom  he  gathered  round  his 
court.  But  these  gradually  died  out,  and  his  vast  em- 
pire fell  to  pieces.  Then  came  a  time  when  men  had 
something  else  to  do  than  to  read  or  write  ;  had  too 
often  to  fight  or  flee  for  their  lives  to  have  much  leisure 
or  thought  for  more  peaceful  tasks.  The  frontiers  of 
Germany  had  to  be  secured,  its  lands  brought  under 
cultivation,  its  towns  built,  its  social  polity  developed. 
It  was  not  until  the  great  defeat  of  the  Normans  in 
891  by  Arnulf,  at  Loven  on  the  Dyle,  that  Germany 
was  delivered  from  their  attacks,  and  its  eastern  por- 
tion was  kept  in  constant  alarm  by  the  incursions  of 
the.  Hungarian  and  Slavonic  tribes,  until  nearly  the 
close  of  the  eleventh  century.  Thus  on  one  occasion, 
early  in  this  century,  the  whole  of  Germany  between 
the  Elbe  and  the  Oder  was  ravaged  ;  the  most  horrible 
cruelties  were  practised,  especially  against  monks  and 
priests,  and  all  the  churches  were  burnt  down.    The 


22  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

cause  of  offence  was  that  the  chief  had  asked  in 
marriage  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Saxony,  and 
had  received  the  scornful  reply  that  it  was  not  meet 
to  give  a  Duke's  daughter  to  a  dog, — a  play  on  the 
words  Hun  and  Himd,  or  hound. 

A  vivid  description  of  one  of  these  incursions  is  left 
us  by  Eckhard  IV.,  a  monk  and  chronicler  of  St. 
Gall.  In  the  year  924,  an  invasion  of  the  Hungarians 
took  place,  which  lasted  for  two  years.  The  wild 
hordes  first  burst  into  Bavaria,  swept  over  all  the 
south  of  Germany,  and  then  vanish  from  our  story  as 
they  pass  down  the  Rhine.  They  carried  with  them 
cattle,  and  carts  containing  their  plunder.  At  night 
they  placed  their  carts  in  a  circle,  lit  watch-fires,  and 
stationed  watchmen  outside  the  barrier,  while  within 
it  they  encamped  on  the  ground.  By  day  they 
ravaged  the  country,  plundering  and  burning  on  all 
sides ;  so  that  their  approach  was  heralded  by  the 
red  glare  of  burning  villages  on  the  horizon.  When 
the  abbot  of  St.  Gall  heard  of  them,  he  assembled 
the  brethren  and  all  the  dependants,  and  commanded 
that  they  should  at  once  begin  to  make  spears,  and 
shields,  and  other  weapons,  and  also  prepare  a  forti- 
fied asylum  in  case  of  attack.  He  himself  and  the 
other  monks  put  on  their  coats  of  steel,  and  drew 
over  them  the  monk's  cloak  and  cowl,  and  laid  their 
own  hands  to  the  work  of  fortifying  the  point  he  had 
chosen,  a  spot  at  the  junction  of  three  streams,  which 
could  only  be  approached  by  a  narrow  way.  The 
monks  and  servants  would  not  believe  in  the  coming 
danger,  and  so  it  was  but  just  in  time  that  they 
transported  their  valuables  to  this  retreat.  The  very 
next  day  the  Huns  appeared.     Only  two  persons  had 


BARBARIAN  INCURSIONS.  23 

been  left  in  the  convent,  a  holy  woman  who  had  made 
a  vow  of  seclusion  and  refused  to  leave  her  cell,  and 
a  half-witted  monk  who  could  not  be  induced  to 
accompany  his  brethren  into  their  fortress.  The 
former  was  murdered,  the  latter  was  treated  with  a 
rough  good-nature,  and  given  as  much  wine  and 
meat  as  he  could  take, — "  though  of  a  truth  the  dis- 
courteous people,  when  I  had  drunk  enough,  forced 
me  to  drink  more  with  blows,"  he  said  afterwards. 
The  Hungarians  took  all  they  could  find,  and 
observing  that  the  highest  point  of  the  building, 
the  vane,  was  crowned  by  a  shining  cock,  they  con- 
cluded this  to  be  the  god  of  the  place,  and  supposed 
his  image  would  be  of  gold.  Two  men  therefore  tried 
to  ascend  the  tower  and  bring  down  the  weathercock, 
but  both  fell  and  were  killed.  Their  companions, 
enraged,  next  endeavoured  to  burn  down  the  church, 
but  its  thick  walls  defied  their  efforts,  on  which  they 
withdrew  to  the  gardens,  saying  that  the  god  was 
too  strong  for  them.  They  then  sent  spies  to  examine 
the  abbot's  place  of  refuge,  but  these  reported 
that  its  natural  strength  and  the  determination  of 
its  defenders  seemed  so  great,  that  it  would  be 
best  to  leave  it  alone ;  and  so,  after  a  long  and 
wild  banquet  in  the  convent  gardens,  the  barbarians 
gradually  drew  off,  and  fell  upon  the  neighbouring 
villages.  For  some  weeks,  however,  the  abbot  could 
not  venture  to  leave  his  fort,  fearing  their  return,  but 
every  day  he  and  some  of  the  bolder  monks  stole 
down  to  the  abbey,  and  said  mass  at  its  altar.  At 
last  he  heard  that  the  enemy  was  really  gone.  One 
•of  the  suburbs  of  Constance  had  been  burnt  down, 
but   the   town   itself  and   the   abbey   of  Rcichenau, 


24  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

which  had  been  next  attacked,  had  been  successfully 
defended,  and  the  barbarians  were  on  their  way  to 
the  Rhine. 

By  very  slow  degrees  these  wild  people  were  either 
subdued  and  converted  to  Christianity,  or  pressed 
back  into  the  vast  plains  and  thick  forests  and 
morasses  of  Central  Europe,  and  the  frontiers  of 
Germany  became  at  peace.  But  within  them  was 
constant  fighting  still.  All  the  great  nobles  claimed 
the  right  of  private  war ;  there  was  no  regular 
administration  of  justice  ;  trial  by  ordeal  was  prac- 
tised ;  and  a  revolt  against  the  Emperor  himself 
appeared  to  his  powerful  vassals  the  most  natural 
thing  to  be  undertaken  when  they  had  any  grievance 
to  avenge,  or  when  his  absence  in  Italy  offered  a  fair 
opportunity.  These  early  Othos  and  Henrys  of  the 
Saxon  and  Salic  lines,  were  indeed,  for  the  most 
part,  men  of  ability  and  energy,  who  strove  hard  to 
establish  order  and  promote  civilization  ;  but  their 
power  in  the  State  depended  almost  entirely  on 
their  personal  character  and  the  wealth  and  conse- 
quence of  their  families,  and  was  weakened  by  their 
frequent  absences  in  Italy. 

In  Germany  itself,  the  clergy,  on  the  whole,  fre- 
quently sided  with  the  Emperor  as  against  the 
nobles,  and  to  some  extent  thus  constituted  them- 
selves protectors  of  the  common  people.  They 
treated  their  dependants  more  mildly  than  other 
lords  did,  and  their  methods  of  agriculture  were 
superior  to  any  other ;  they  gave  employment,  too, 
to  many  handicrafts,  and  thus  it  was  not  unnatural 
that  towns  gradually  grew  up  or  rapidly  increased 
round  the  great  abbeys  and  bishops'  sees.     It  was  to 


THE  TRUCE  OF  GOD.  2$ 

two  assemblies  of  bishops,  moreover,  that  the  dis- 
tracted world  owed  that  Truce  of  God,  proclaimed  in 
the  year  1032,  which  gave  breathing-time  to  the  poor 
down-trodden  peasant  or  townsman,  and  was  the 
beginning  of  a  more  settled  state  of  society.  It  was 
an  agreement  that  no  violence  or  weapons  of  any 
kind  should  be  used  from  sunset  on  Wednesday  to 
sunrise  on  Monday,  nor  on  any  high  festival  of  the 
Church,  and  whosoever  violated  this  peace  was  to 
pay  his  fine  or  wehrgeld,  or  suffer  excommunication. 
Many  of  the  nobles  at  first  refused  to  submit  to  this, 
and  declared  their  intention  of  adhering  to  the  good 
old  customs  of  their  forefathers,  and  fighting  on  every 
day  in  the  week  :  but  a  succession  of  bad  harvests  and 
a  great  dearth  which  occurred  about  this  time  was 
pointed  out  to  them  by  the  bishops  as  a  sign  of  God's 
anger  with  their  conduct ;  and  even  the  turbulent 
Normans  of  France  yielded  to  this  argument.  Nor 
indeed  was  it  untrue,  for  it  is  evident  that  the  local 
scarcities  of  food,  which  were  of  terribly  frequent 
occurrence  at  this  period,  were  in  great  measure  due 
to  the  evil  passions  and  ignorance  of  men.  From  this 
time  onwards,  however,  we  can  trace  an  increase  in 
the  extent  of  land  brought  under  cultivation  ;  mining 
was  introduced  in  the  Harz  district,  and  the  towns 
steadily  grew  in  wealth  and  importance.  But  how 
much  of  heathen  superstition  still  lingered  in  the 
most  Christian  and  civilized  places,  is  curiously  shown 
by  a  Mirror  of  Confession  written  by  a  Bishop  Bur- 
chardt  of  Worms,  early  in  the  eleventh  century.  There 
we  find  penances  assigned  for  worshipping  the  sun, 
the  moon,  the  starry  heavens,  the  new  moon,  or  an 
eclipse,   and  for  trying  to  restore   the  moon's  light 


26  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

when  eclipsed,  by  wild  outcries,  "  as  though  the 
elements  could  help  thee,  or  thou  couldst  help  them." 
So,  too,  offering  prayers  and  sacrifices  by  a  well,  at  a 
cross-road,  or  to  stones  is  forbidden,  and  so  is  the  old 
wives'  custom  at  the  birth  of  a  child,  of  placing  food 
and  drink  and  three  knives  on  the  table  to  propitiate 
the  Parcae  or  Three  Sisters.  The  good  old  bishop 
believes  in  trial  by  ordeal,  but  we  cannot  but  feel  a 
great  respect  for  him  when  we  find  the  belief  in  the 
possibility  of  witchcraft  and  in  divination  classed 
among  utterly  vain  and  empty  superstitions ;  and 
when  we  observe  the  heavy  penalties  affixed  to  slay- 
ing a  bondsman  even  at  the  command  or  by  the  hand 
of  his  lord,  unless  he  were  a  thief  and  a  murderer  ; 
and  to  selling  or  entrapping  any  human  being  into 
slavery.  To  the  former  of  these  offences  it  seems 
no  secular  penalty  was  then  attached,  the  lord  pos- 
sessing the  power  of  life  and  death  over  his  bonds- 
man. Yet  side  by  side  with  these  superstitions  there 
was  a  great  deal  of  genuine  Christian  faith,  among  the 
laity  as  well  as  the  clergy.  The  separation  between 
these  two  classes  was  not  indeed  so  marked  as  it 
afterwards  became.  Many  of  the  secular  clergy  were 
married — Bishop  Burchardt  imposes  a  penance  on  any 
one  who  should  despise  or  refuse  the  ministrations  of 
a  married  priest, — and  the  monks  often  vied  with  the 
knights  in  field  sports,  as  they  did  with  the  farmer  in 
agriculture.  When  the  need  arose  of  defending  land 
or  faith  by  arms,  the  abbot  raised  his  troops  like  the 
lord  of  any  other  fief,  and  could  even  on  occasion,  as 
we  have  seen  at  St.  Gall,  put  on  his  own  coat  of  mail 
and  become  general  himself  On  the  other  hand, 
many  knights  rivalled  the  monks  in  pious  exercises. 


EZZO  OF  BABINGBERG.  27 


and  the  cloister  was  their  natural  refuge  when  pressed 
by  conscience  or  the  troubles  of  a  restless  life.  It 
was  in  the  secular  school  of  the  convent  that  their 
children  were  educated,  and  it  was  among  the  higher 
clergy  that  the  princes  sought  for  State-advisers  and 
secretaries. 

Throughout  this  period  the  literature  of  Germany 
remained  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  and 
was  written  in  Latin,  the  then  universal  medium  of 
communication  for  the  learned  class.  Even  so  truly 
popular  a  subject  as  the  story  of  "  Renard  the  Fox" 
was  treated  in  Latin,  for  the  earliest  existing  MS.  of 
it  is  a  Latin  version,  which  it  is,  however,  supposed 
was  based  on  a  Flemish  original  now  lost.*  This  was 
indeed  a  sort  of  flowering  time  of  mediaeval  Latin 
poetry,  while  native  German  poetry  was  almost 
extinct.  Only  a  very  few  German  poems  remain 
from  these  centuries,  and  these  are  not  remarkable 
except  for  their  date.  The  principal  are  two  long 
poems,  by  Ezzo,  a  learned  canon  of  Babingberg,  on 
the  miracles  of  Christ,  and  on  the  mysteries  of 
redemption  and  creation. 

In  the  public  services  of  the  Church  the  people's 
share  was  confined  to  uttering  the  response,  "  Kyrie 
Eleison,  Christe  Eleison,"  at  certain  inter\'als  during 
the  singing  of  the  Latin  hymns  and  psalms.  These 
words  were  frequently  repeated,  sometimes  two  or 
three  hundred  times  in  one  service,  and  were  apt  to 
degenerate  into  a  kind  of  scarcely  articulate  shout,  as 
is  proved  by  the  early  appearance,  even  in  writing,  of 
such  forms  as  "  Kyrieles."  But  soon  after  Notker 
had  created  the  Latin  Sequence,  the  priests  began  to 

'  The  earliest  German  version  dates  from  11 70. 


28  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

imitate  it  in  German,  in  order  to  furnish  the  people 
with  some  intelligible  words  in  place  of  the  mere  out- 
cry to  which  they  had  become  accustomed.  They 
wrote  irregular  verses,  every  strophe  of  which  ended 
with  the  words,  "  Kyrie  Eleison,"  from  the  last 
syllables  of  which  these  earliest  German  hymns  were 
called  Lcisen.  They  were,  however,  never  used  in 
the  service  of  the  mass,  but  only  on  popular  fes- 
tivals, on  pilgrimages,  and  such  occasions.  The  most 
ancient  that  has  been  handed  down  to  us  is  one  on 
St.  Peter,  dating  from  the  beginning  of  the  tenth 
century,  of  which  we  give  an  imitation,  as  well  as 
we  can  manage  it,  in  English  ;  and  also  of  a  prayer 
from  the  tenth  century,  which  is  found  at  the  close 
of  a  copy  of  Otfried's  work,  inscribed,  "  The  Bishop 
Waldo  caused  this  Evangelium  to  be  made,  and  Sigi- 
hart,  an  unworthy  priest,  wrote  it."  The  language 
of  both  differs  so  widely  from  modern  German,  as 
to  be  unintelligible  without  a  glossary ;  but  both  are 
written  in  irregular  metre,  and  in  rhyme,  though  the 
rhymes  are  very  imperfect. 

ST.  PETER. 

Our  dear  Lord  of  grace  hath  given 
To  St.  Peter  power  in  heaven, 
That  he  may  uphold  alway, 
All  who  hope  in  him,  and  say 

Kyrie  eleison  ! 

Christe  eleison  ! 

Therefore  must  he  stand  before 

The  heavenly  kingdom's  mighty  door ; 


EARLY  HYMNS.  29 


There  will  he  an  entrance  give 
To  those  who  shall  be  bid  to  live  : 

Kyrie  eleison  ! 

Christe  eleison ! 

Let  us  to  God's  servant  pray, 
All,  with  loudest  voice  to-day, 
That  our  souls  which  else  were  lost 
May  dwell  among  the  heavenly  host : 

Kyrie  eleison! 

Christe  eleison ! 

PRAYER. 

Thou  Heavenly  Lord  of  Light, 
Guide  us  with  grace  and  might 
To  Thine  own  realm,  to  be 
For  ever  like  to  Thee. 
Lord  Christ,  from  heaven  above 
Send  us  Thy  Father's  love, 
That  we  to  heaven  may  go, 
Nor  suffer  the  least  woe. 

ANOTHER  PRAYER  {Ninth  Century). 

God,  it  is  Thy  property 

Ever  merciful  to  be ; 

Hear  the  prayers  we  now  outpour. 

For  we  need  Thy  mercy  sore. 

We  are  bound  without,  within, 
With  the  heavy  chains  of  sin  ; 
Tenderly  and  speedily 
Let  Thy  pity  set  us  free. 


CHAPTER    III. 


THE  MORNING. 


A.D.    IIOO — 1250. 


A  WONDERFUL  change  came  over  Germany  during 
the  next  two  centuries.  There  was  a  great  change 
in  the  mere  external  aspect  of  the  country.  The 
peasant  who  looked  out  from  the  door  of  his  farm- 
stead saw  a  very  different  landscape  from  that  which 
greeted  his  forefather's  eyes.  The  forest  indeed  still 
skirted  the  horizon,  but  the  cleared  spaces  were  wider, 
and  the  monotonous  green  of  the  broad  stretches  of 
pasture  land  was  broken  up  by  the  more  varied 
colouring  of  arable  crops.  The  villages  were  far  more 
thickly  studded  over  the  land,  and  nearly  every  one 
had  its  wooden  church  with  its  one  tinkling  bell ; 
while  farther  off,  by  the  river-side,  stood  some  great 
abbey  with  its  stone  buildings,  round  which  a  busy 
town  was  rapidly  growing  up,  where  the  village  found 
a  market  for  its  produce  and  employment  for  its 
superfluous  population.  But  one  new  feature  would 
not  please  the  peasant  quite  so  well :  on  any  neigh- 
bouring height  which  commanded  the  fertile  meadows 
beneath,  there  was  almost  sure  to  be  perched  a  new 
stone  dwelling  inhabited  by  some  armed  follower  of 
the  prince  or  great  lord  of  the  country,  and  from  these 


FREDERICK  BARBAROSSA.  31 

strongholds  a  lawless  crew  often  issued  to  carry  off 
the  fruits  of  peaceful  industry.  During  the  next  two 
hundred  years,  indeed,  the  most  marked  changes  in 
the  social  aspect  of  the  age  were  the  growth  of  the 
great  towns  in  size,  wealth,  political  power,  and  all 
the  arts  of  life ;  and  the  rise  of  a  large  class  of  armed 
and  mounted  followers  of  the  great  lords  of  the 
empire,  whom  the  institution  of  chivalry  placed,  in  a 
certain  sense,  on  a  level  with  their  chiefs,  while  it 
constituted  a  barrier  between  them  and  the  unknightly 
classes — an  order  which  in  after-times  developed  into 
the  lesser  nobility  of  the  empire. 

But  it  was  altogether  an  era  of  rapid  growth,  one 
oC  those  times  when  men's  minds  are  awake  and  alive, 
and  full  of  energy  to  attempt  new  enterprises  in  any 
field.  Germany  was  ruled  by  the  Hohenstauffens,  a 
vigorous,  ambitious,  warlike  race,  whose  dream  it  was 
to  prove  themselves  true  heirs  of  Charlemagne  by 
re-establishing  the  Empire  of  the  West,  and  who  fell 
at  last  in  that  struggle  with  the  popes  of  which  the 
real  basis  was  the  question  whether  the  headship 
of  Western  Christendom  was  to  belong  to  the  State 
or  the  Church.  The  noblest  of  them,  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa  (11 5  2-1 189),  had  all  the  qualities  that  made 
him  the  darling  hero  of  the  people :  brave,  handsome, 
able  in  war  and  in  council — a  liberal  patron  of  the 
singers  and  builders,  whose  arts  were  beginning  every- 
where to  flourish  on  the  German  soil — the  champion 
of  his  country  against  the  Papal  chair — the  conqueror 
of  the  warlike  Normans  of.  Southern  Italy, — he  stirred 
the  hearts  of  the  people  with  an  enthusiasm  that  was 
in  itself  an  education.  The  very  manner  of  his  death 
threw  a  legendary  halo   round   his   memory.     That 


32  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

their  monarch  should  at  last  have  taken  the  Cross  in 
his  old  age,  and  far  away  in  the  Eastern  land,  when 
a  river  had  to  be  crossed,  should  have  plunged  in  on 
horseback  before  his  whole  army,  to  show  the  way, 
and  perished  in  the  attempt,  seemed  a  fitting  end  for 
so  brave  a  life  ;  yet  the  mass  of  the  people  would  not 
believe  he  was  dead :  in  the  popular  imagination  he 
became  confounded  with  his  great  predecessor  Charle- 
magne, and  the  legend  was  transferred  to  him,  of  the 
sleeping  monarch  in  a  hidden  cave  who  was  to  start 
to  life  again  in  his  country's  utmost  need.  But  not 
only  did  the  frequent  expeditions  of  the  Hohenstauf- 
fens  into  Italy  bring  the  Germans  into  contact  with 
the  more  refined  culture  of  the  Lombard  cities  and 
the  southern  Normans,  yet  wider  fields  were  opened 
to  them  by  the  Crusades.  It  was  at  this  period  that 
one  mighty  impulse  thrilled  through  Western  Christ- 
endom, and  drew  men,  women,  and  children  even, 
nobles  and  peasants  alike,  to  the  service  of  the  Cross. 
It  was  no  wonder  that  men's  hearts  were  attracted  to 
a  service  which  in  this  new  form  touched  the  springs 
of  loyal  allegiance  to  the  invisible  Lord,  and  of 
reverent  compassion  for  His  earthly  sufferings,  and 
also  of  worldly  ambition  and  love  of  adventure,  and 
opened  to  the  soldier  a  means  of  securing  as  high  a 
place  in  the  heavenly  kingdom  by  his  own  craft  of 
fighting,  as  the  monk  could  gain  by  prayer  and  mor- 
tification. And  so  for  the  next  two  hundred  years 
there  was  a  constant  stream  of  Crusaders  going  to  and 
returning  from  the  East,  an^  rendering  the  intercourse 
between  the  East  and  West  almost  as  close  as  that 
between  Europe  and  America  in  our  own  day.  If  these 
expeditions  wrought  much  harm  and  misery  by  their 


THE  CRUSADES.  33 


terrible  drain  on  the  strongest  part  of  the  population, 
by  the  wild  habits  and  unknown  forms  of  disease 
(such   as    the   Oriental    leprosy    and    plague)   which 
were  brought  home  by  returning  bands  of  pilgrims, 
they  also  wrought  much  good.      Many  joined  them 
from  a   true    impulse  of  devotion,  and   came   back 
trained  and  tempered  knights  and  warriors  who  had 
learned   letters   and    refinement   from   the   Normans 
and    Provencals ;    the    priest    and    scholar    brought 
back  new  ideas  and  new  manuscripts  from  Greece  ; 
the  merchant  discovered  new  channels  for  commerce, 
and   carried   home   new    fruits   and   luxuries   to   his 
native  fields  and  city.     Germany,  however,  was  less 
affected  by  the  universal  enthusiasm  than  the  other 
European    nations :    it    was    longer  before    the   fire 
.  was    kindled    in    the    slow    hearts    of    the    people : 
the     struggles    with    the    popes     made    enterprises 
patronised   by   them  less   popular ;   and   there   were 
never  wanting   men   who   looked   on   them   with    a 
disenchanted  eye.     "  If  it  were  of  a  truth  so  grievous 
to  our  Lord  Christ,"  says  one  of  the  Minne-singers, 
"that  the  Saracens  should  rule  over  the  spot  of  His 
entombment,  could  not  He  alone  humble  the  power 
of  the  heathen  nation,  and  would  He  need  our  hands 
to  help  Him  V     An  old  monkish  chronicle  of  Wurz- 
burg  begins  its  narration  of  the  second  crusade  under 
the  Emperor  Conrad  HI.,  by  declaring  that  in  the 
year    1 147,    "  there    came    into    the    country    false 
prophets,  sons  of  Belial,  sworn  servants  of  Antichrist, 
who  by  their  empty  words  seduced  Christians,  and 
by  their  vain  preaching  impelled  all  kinds  of  men  to 
go  forth  to  deliver  Jerusalem  from   the   Saracens." 
It  goes  on  to  describe  the  mixed  multitude  that  was 

S.L.  VI.  ]j 


34  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


gathered  together  for  this  purpose,  and  the  very 
mixed  motives  that  actuated  them.  "  The  one  had 
this,  the  other  that  object.  For  many  were  curious 
after  new  things,  and  went  forth  to  behold  a  strange 
land  ;  others  were  constrained  by  poverty  and  the 
meanness  of  their  circumstances  at  home,  and  these 
were  ready  to  fight  not  only  with  the  foes  of  the 
Cross  of  Christ,  but  with  any  good  friends  to  Christ- 
endom, if  thereby  they  might  but  get  rid  of  this 
their  poverty.  Others  again  were  burdened  with 
debt,  or  hoped  secretly  to  escape  from  the  services 
they  owed  to  their  lord,  or  they  feared  the  merited 
punishment  of  their  misdeeds ;  all  these  simulated 
great  zeal  for  God,  but  they  were  zealous  only  to 
throw  down  the  heavy  load  of  their  own  troubles. 
Scarce  a  few  could  be  found  who  had  not  bowed  the 
knee  to  Baal ;  who  were  guided  by  a  pious  and 
meritorious  intention,  and  were  so  inflamed  by  the 
love  of  the  Divine  Majesty,  that  they  were  ready  to 
shed  their  blood  for  the  Most  Holy  Place.  But  we 
will  leave  this  matter  to  Him  who  can  read  all  hearts, 
only  adding,  that  God  best  knoweth  who  are  His." 
Similar  judgments  are  expressed  by  many  other 
writers  throughout  the  twelfth  century ;  and  even 
where  the  poet  or  chronicler  is  filled  with  enthusiasm 
for  the  great  idea  embodied  in  these  enterprises,  we 
find  a  curiously  frank  and  shrewd  exposure  of  the 
defects  in  their  execution.  This  mood  of  mind,  a 
sort  of  slow  practical  good  sense  and  perception  of 
actual  facts,  may  explain  the  circumstance  noticed  by 
many  of  their  contemporaries,  that  the  Germans  were 
the  last  to  join  and  the  first  to  discontinue  the  Crusades. 
Still  there  is  also  a  great  capacity  for  enthusiasm  in 


THE  CRUSADES.  35 


the  German  people,  and  they  b)'^  no  means  stood  apart 
altogether  from  what  constituted  the  great  life  of 
Europe  in  those  days.  Four  of  their  emperors  took 
the  Cross,  and  were  followed  to  the  East  by  immense 
armies,  and  many  knights  joined  in  other  expeditions. 
The  immediate  fruit  of  this  participation  in  the 
common  life  of  Christendom  was  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  the  institution  of  chivalry,  and  of  a  national 
literature — the  first  great  outburst  of  German  poetry 
and  song.  It  came  almost  suddenly.  We  seem  to 
pass  at  a  bound  from  an  age  when  literature  was 
almost  exclusively  Latin  and  in  the  hands  of  the 
clergy,  to  one  when  it  is  German  and  chiefly  in  the 
hands  of  the  knightly  order.  A  few  compositions  in- 
deed remain  from  the  early  part  of  the  twelfth  century 
which  mark  the  period  of  transition  ;  for  though  in 
language  and  subject  they  approach  the  new  school, 
they  are  still  the  work  of  the  clerical  elass.  Such  in 
religious  poetry  are  the  "  Life  of  Jesus,"  by  a  nun 
who  died  in  1127,  the  version  of  the  Pentateuch,  and 
in  secular  poetry  the  Lays  of  Roland  and  of  Alex- 
ander, &c.,  written  by  priests.  But  very  soon  a  whole 
large  ^  class  of  lyrical  poets  sprang  up  who  are  known 
to  us  as  the  Minne-singers  ;  their  works  are  in  German, 
and  show  a  wonderful  mastery  over  the  language. 
Instead  of  the  imperfect  rhymes  and  halting  metre  of 
the  previous  age,  we  have  long  poems  in  intricate 
metre  and  crowded  with  rhymes,  which  occur  often  in 
the  middle  as  well  as  at  the  end  of  each  line.  It 
became  the  fashion  to  compose  if  possible,  at  least  to 
learn  and  sing  these  poems.  They  flew  over  the 
country  on  the  wings  of  the  tunes  attached  to  them  ; 

*  More  than  two  hundred  are  known  to  us  still  by  name. 
D  2 


36  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

wandering  knights  and  grooms  taught  them  to  each 
other ;  they  were  sung  at  village- wakes,  and  at  courts 
and  tournaments ;  and  ladies  had  collections  of  them 
written  on  slips  of  parchment  and  tied  together  with 
bright-coloured  ribbons.  The  subjects  of  this  new 
poetry  were,  except  in  some  rare  cases,  limited  in 
range.  It  concerned  itself  almost  entirely  with  ladies' 
love,  with  feats  of  arms,  and  with  that  contrast  between 
the  bright  and  dark  side  of  human  life  which  was  so 
strongly  felt  throughout  the  mediaeval  times,  and 
never  more  so  than  at  this  period.  It  was,  unlike 
that  which  had  preceded  it,  an  age  when  there  was 
great  enjoyment  of  life, — delight  in  adventure,  in 
social  intercourse,  and  knightly  pastimes ;  delight  in 
natural  beauty,  such  as  the  glow  of  summer  and  the 
song  of  birds,  in  the  beauty  of  women,  of  costume, 
of  verse,  of  stately  buildings.  There  is  a  strain  of 
almost  childlike  gaiety  to  be  heard  in  most  of  these 
old  poets.  But  it  was  also  a  time  when  life  was 
peculiarly  uncertain ;  when  long  partings  from  home 
and  friends,  strange  vicissitudes  of  fortune,  or  death, 
might  overtake  at  any  moment  those  in  highest 
place ;  while  the  Christian  faith  had  awakened  in  the 
thoughtful  Teutonic  race  that  sense  of  the  incomplete- 
ness and  inadequacy  of  all  finite  beauty,  of  remorse 
for  sin,  of  mysterious  awe  in  face  of  the  eternal 
destinies  of  man,  which  once  roused  could  never  be 
wholly  laid  to  sleep  again.  The  very  changes  of  the 
seasons  came  with  a  sharper  contrast  to  those  men  in 
their  rude  uncomfortable  abodes  than  we  in  our  ceiled 
and  glazed  houses  can  well  imagine.  Winter  was  a 
time  of  darkness,  discomfort,  and  isolation ;  spring 
brought  life  and  hope,  and  was  welcomed  all  over 


GERMAN  SEQUENCES.  yj 


the  country  by  symbolic  festivals  at  which  the  prince 
and  princess  of  May  and  their  followers  encountered 
and  overcame  the  representative  of  savage  Winter. 
Summer  brought  the  happy  out-of-doors  toil  to  the 
.husbandman ;  the  tournament,  or  the  real  combat,  or 
the  wandering  life  to  lady,  and  knight,  and  squire. 
No  wonder  then,  that  in  the  poetry  of  these  days, 
the  alternation  of  joy  and  sorrow,  "  Freud  und  Leid," 
meets  us  in  every  form ;  in  the  happiness  of  greeting 
and  the  pain  of  parting ;  in  the  gloom  of  winter  and 
the  joyousness  of  the  May-time;  in  the  praise  of 
pleasure,  and  in  meditations  on  penitence  and  death. 

In  the  Church,  too,  the  voice  of  native  song  now 
made  itself  heard.  The  German  Sequences,  "  Leisen," 
or  "  Leiche,"^  as  they  were  also  called,  became  much 
more  common,  and  at  the  highest  festivals  were  sung 
even  at  the  service  of  the  mass  itself  One  for  Easter, 
which  we  meet  with  in  many  various  forms,  and 
another  for  Whitsuntide,  were  thus  used,  and  have 
descended  to  the  present  day  as  the  first  verses  of 
two  of  Luther's  best-known  hymns : — 

"  Christ  the  Lord  is  risen, 
Out  of  Death's  dark  prison, 
Let  us  all  rejoice  to-day, 
Christ  shall  be  our  hope  and  stay  : 
Kyrie  eleison. 

Alleluia,  Alleluia,  Alleluia ! 
Let  us  all  rejoice  to-day ; 
Christ  shall  be  our  hope  and  stay. 
Kyrie  eleison." 

'  The  origin  of  this  term  is  uncertain,  but  it  is  thought  to  have 
denoted  at  first  a  certain  dance  measure.  It  is  often  applied  to  very 
long  poems  of  somewhat  irregular  structure. 


38  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Or  in  other  forms — 

"  Christ  hath  risen  again, 
Broken  every  chain ;" 
Or, 

"  Christ  is  risen  again, 
Out  of  all  that  pain." 

And  for  Whitsuntide,  "  here  singeth  the  whole  Church," 
as  an  old  manuscript  says, — 

"  Now  let  us  pray  the  Holy  Ghost 
For  that  True  Faith  we  need  the  most, 
And  that  He  may  keep  us  when  death  shall  come, 
And  from  this  ill  world  we  travel  home. 

Kyrie  eleison." 

These  are  attributed  to  Spervogel,  a  vi^riter  of  the 
twelfth  century,  of  whom  we  only  know  that  he  was 
a  priest,  of  a  burgher  family,  and  a  favourite  sacred 
poet  of  that  time.  He  composed  many  short  didactic 
poems,  almost  epigrammatic  in  brevity  and  condensed 
thought,  which  were  the  beginning  of  a  class  of  reli- 
gious poetry  that  was  much  loved  and  practised  in 
the  next  two  or  three  centuries. 

Another   "  Leich "   or   "  Sequence "   of  his,  which 
became  extremely  popular,  is 

THE  PRAISE  OF  GOD. 

All  growth  of  the  forest, 
The  deep- hidden  gold, 
All  secret  abysses. 

Thine  eye  doth  behold ; 
•  In  Thy  Hand  all  things  lie. 

All  the  hosts  of  the  heavens 
Cannot  fill  up  the  meed  of  Thy  praises  on  high. 


GERMAN  SEQUENCES.  39 

Another  of  his  poems  is  called 

HEAVEN  AND  HELL. 

He  is  full  of  power  and  might 
Who  was  bom  on  Christmas  night, 
The  holy  Christ  is  He  ; 
Praised  of  all  things  that  be, 

Save  the  devil,  whose  lothely  pride 
Brooked  not  once  to  bow  the  knee. 

So  must  he  in  hell  abide. 

In  that  hell  is  mickle  woe, 
Well  doth  he  who  dwells  there  know ; 
Shineth  not  the  sun  so  bright, 
Helpeth  not  the  moon  by  night. 

Not  a  star  he  there  may  see. 
Foul  is  all  that  meets  his  sight. 

Ah  how  fain  in  heaven  were  he  I 

But  in  heaven  there  stands  a  Home, 
A  golden  way  thereto  doth  come. 
The  pillars  are  of  marble  fair. 
Set  about  with  jewels  rare, 

That  our  Lord  for  it  doth  win  : 
But  no  man  may  enter  there, 

Save  that  he  be  pure  from  sin. 

He  who  goeth  to  church  full  fain, 
Pure  from  envy  and  from  stain, 
Gladsome  life  he  well  may  have  ; 
Him  await  beyond  the  grave, 

Angel  friends  and  blithesome  mom, 
Heavenly  life  so  fair  and  brave  ; 

Well  for  him  that  he  was  born  ! 


40  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Alas  !  that  I  have  served  so  long 
A  lord  that  is  both  fell  and  strong  ; 
Evil  wage  from  him  I  win, 
Ah  I  rue  me  of  my  sin  ! 

Holy  Ghost,  now  succour  me 
Ere  my  woes  in  hell  begin. 

Break  his  bonds  and  set  me  free. 

Several  of  the  great  Latin  hymns  were  also  trans- 
lated into  German  at  this  time  ;  and  that  these  hymns 
and  sequences  were  used  in  church  is  proved  by  a 
passage  in  a  Life  of  St.  Bernard  by  a  contemporary 
and  disciple,  in  which  it  is  expressly  mentioned  that 
in  the  cathedral  at  Cologne  the  people  broke  out 
into  hymns  of  praise  in  the  German  tongue  at  every 
miracle  wrought  by  the  saint  ;  and  the  writer  regrets 
that  when  they  left  the  German  soil  this  custom 
ceased,  as  the  nations  who  spoke  the  Romanic  lan- 
guages did  not  possess  native  hymns  after  the  manner 
of  the  others.  Still  undoubtedly  their  use  in  church 
was  very  restricted,  and  was  always  regarded  with 
suspicion  by  the  more  papal  of  the  clergy  ;  but  there 
were  many  other  occasions  in  life  on  which  they  were 
employed  :  they  seem  to  have  been  commonly  sung 
at  the  saints'  festivals  and  special  services  which  were 
frequently  held  outside  the  church,  and  on  pilgrimages. 
So  St.  Francis,  in  an  address  to  his  monks  in  the  year 
1 22 1,  says:  "There  is  a  certain  country  called  Ger- 
many, wherein  dwell  Christians,  and  of  a  truth  very 
pious  ones,  who  as  you  know  often  come  as  pilgrims 
into  our  land,  with  their  long  staves  and  great  boots  ; 
and  amid  the  most  sultry  heat  and  bathed  in  sweat, 
yet  visit  all  the  thresholds  of  the  holy  shrines,  and 
sing  hymns  of  praise  to  God  and  all  His  saints." 


THE  MINNESINGERS.  41 


It  may  give  us  some  idea  of  the  quantity  of  poetry 
written  from  this  time  onwards,  that  the  great  col- 
lection by  M.  Wackernagel  of  religious  poetry  prior 
to  the  Reformation,  contains  nearly  1500  pieces,  and 
the  names  of  85  different  poets,  while  many  of  the 
poems  are  anonymous,  and  much  no  doubt  has 
perished.  Among  the  names  still  left  a  large  number 
are  secular,  others  are  those  of  monks  and  priests,  and 
the  vanity  of  the  world  forms  not  unnaturally  their 
frequent  theme.  Here  is  a  graceful  little  poem  of  this 
kind  by  a  monk  of  the  thirteenth  century,  entitled 

THE  BEAUTY  OF  THIS  WORLD. 

O  Rose !  of  the  flowers,  I  ween,  thou  art  fairest, 
But  thorny  and  worthless  the  stem  that  thou  bearest. 

Fleeting  thy  beauty,  unlovely  thy  fruit ; 
World,  I  would  liken  thee  unto  the  roses, 
Sweet  are  thy  flatteries,  sad  are  their  closes. 

Virtue  and  goodness  in  thee  have  no  root. 

Red  is  the  berry,  O  Rose  !  on  thy  bushes, 
Harsh  is  its  inside,  though  faidy  it  blushes ; 

So,  World,  dost  thou  lure  us  and  mock  us  with  lies  : 
Outside  thy  seeming  is  gracious  and  sunny. 
Outside  thy  greetings  are  sweet  as  the  honey, 

Bitter  thy  kernel ; — O  man,  then  be  wise  ! 

But  in  the  list  we  also  find  the  greatest  of  the 
knightly  Minne-singers,  Hartmann  von  der  Aue, 
Reinmar  von  Hagenau,  Gottfried  von  Strasburg, 
Wolfram  von  Eschenbach,  and  the  noble  singer 
Walther  von  der  Vogelweide. 

Hartmann  "of  the  Meadow,"  as  he  calls  himself 


42  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

has  left  us  several  crusaders*  songs,  and  among  them 
the  following : — 

CRUSADER'S  HYMN. 

My  joy  was  ne'er  unmixed  with  care 

Until  the  day 
I  took  this  sign  that  now  I  bear, 

Christ's  flower  of  May  : 
It  tells  us  of  a  summer-time, 

That  will  not  wither, 
A  lovely,  eye-delighting  clime  : 

God  bring  us  thither  ! 
Up  to  the  numerous  choirs, 
From  which  to  deepest  fires, 
His  falsehood  hurled  the  Prince  of  111 ; 
But  to  the  good  stand  open  still. 

For  so  the  world  with  me  hath  dealt, 

My  mind  no  more 
Longs  for  her  gifts ;  what  once  I  felt. 

Thank  God,  is  o'er  ! 
God  hath  been  very  good  to  me 

O'er  many  another, 
Since  He  from  cares  hath  set  me  free 

That  choke  and  smother 
Love  in  the  heart,  and  bind  to  home 
The  foot  that  fain  afar  would  roam  ; 
\      While  I  exultant  onward  fare, 

The  triumphs  of  Christ's  hosts  to  share. 

Another  crusading  song,  which  was  very  widely 
used  on  pilgrimages  in  these  days,  was  sung  to  a 
melody  which    has   been   preserved    to   the  present 


THE  MINNESINGERS.  43 

[        •  —  ^ 

time  by  its  connexion  with  one  of  Luther's  hymns  ;^ 
it  is  this  : — 

PILGRIM'S  SONG. 

Now  in  the  name  of  God  we  go, 
His  grace  be  round  us  evermo ; 
God's  strength  be  with  us  every  hour 
And  fill  us  with  His  mighty  power. 
Kyrie  eleison. 

And  may  the  Holy  Cross  be  still 
Our  shield  from  every  ghostly  ill, 
The  Cross  where  Christ  endured  such  woe  ; 
O  thence  shall  all  our  gladness  flow  ! 
Kyrie  eleison. 

And  also  from  the  Holy  Tomb, 
Where  He  Himself  lay  wrapped  in  gloom, 
With  the  five  wounds  He  deigned  to  bear  ; 
Rejoicing,  let  us  onward  fare 

Toward  thee,  Jerusalem. 

Kyrie  eleison,  Christe  eleison  ! 
O  help  us  now,  Thou  Holy  Ghost, 
O  Thou  most  blessed  Voice  of  God, 
.    To  tread  with  joy  the  toilsome  road 

Toward  thee,  Jerusalem  ! 
Kyrie  eleison  ! 

Another  crusader  and  Minne-singer  of  those  days, 
Sir  Reinmar  of  Hagenau,  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the 
struggle  that  must  have  gone  on  in  many  minds 
between  the  love  of  pleasure  and  the  self-control  that 
befitted  a  soldier  of  the  Cross,  a  struggle  of  which  we 

'  That  on  the  Ten  Commandments. 


44  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

may  still  use  his  own  words,  "  full  many  another  feels 
it  too :— " 

UNRULY  THOUGHTS. 

E'er  since  the  day  this  Cross  was  mine, 

I  set  a  guard  upon  my  thought, 
As  well  beseems  the  Holy  Sign, 

And  as  a  faithful  pilgrim  ought ; 
To  God  I  raise  my  thoughts  by  night  and  day, 
That  from  His  service  ne'er  my  foot  may  stray  ; 
But  they  would  have  their  will,  and  roam 

Unchecked  as  they  were  wont  to  do  ; 
Nor  is  this  trouble  mine  alone, 

Full  many  another  feels  it  too. 

All  other  things  were  lightly  borne, 

If  but  my  thoughts  would  keep  true  ways  ; 
The  God  whom  I  to  serve  have  sworn 

They  help  me  not  enough  to  praise, — 
Not  as  I  ought,  and  for  my  soul  were  well. 
On  the  old  stories  they  are  fain  to  dwell. 
And  lure  me  back  to  pleasures  past 

That  I  was  eager  once  to  seek ; 
Christ,  Thou  forbid  them,  turn  them  thence ; 

For  my  own  strength  is  all  too  weak. 

.  But  I  would  not  forbid  them  quite 
To  seek  by  times  their  native  land  ; 
Awhile  I  let  them  take  their  flight, 
Then  want  them  swiftly  here  at  hand  ; 
So  there  to  greet  our  friends  they  oft  are  sent, 
Then  back  they  come  to  help  me  to  repent. 
To  win  forgiveness  for  us  both. 

For  sins  that  all  my  past  beset ; — 
Yet  fear  I  their  deceitfulness, 

Fear  they  may  oft  mislead  me  yet. 


THE  MINNESINGERS.  45 


Farewell  then,  Pleasure  !  well  for  him 

To  whom  thou  comest  harmlessly  ; 

Thou  haunt'st  me  still  in  visions  dim, 

Though  of  thy  bondage  I  am  free  : 

The  days,  the  nights,  when  once  I  shunned  thee  not, 

By  many  an  effort  have  I  now  forgot. 

Closed  are  the  paths  that  toward  thee  lead  ; 

Let  no  man  point  the  way  to  thee 
Afresh, — I  count  him  else  a  foe 
To  my  sworn  service  and  to  me. 

A  little  anonymous  poem  of  the  same  date,  the  last 
verse  of  which  appears,  from  the  metre,  to  be  incom- 
plete, surprises  us  by  what  seems  to  us  the  modern 
tone  of  its  tender  and  passionate 

LAMENT. 

Alas  for  my  sorrow  ! 

My  heart  is  in  pain  ; 
Where  is  hope  for  the  morrow  ? 

To  whom  now  complain  ? 
O  God,  take  compassion 

On  me  lying  low, 
And  comfort,  O  comfort  me, 

Through  Thine  own  woe. 

Keenly  regretful, 

I  call  to  my  mind 
How  we  are  forgetful. 

How  He  is  so  kind  ! 
Who  gladly,  yet  painfully, 

Yielded  His  breath, 
Only  to  ransom  us 

Ever  from  death. 


46  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Where  shall  I  find  Him, 

Him  dearest  to  me, 
Who  let  His  foes  bind  Him 

That  we  might  be  free  ? 

But  among  all  these  singers,  Walter  von  der 
Vogelweide  (of  the  Birds'  nests  or  the  aviary)  may  be 
singled  out  as  their  highest  type.  He  was  the  darling 
of  his  own  times,  and  is  constantly  referred  to  by 
other  poets  as  "  their  master  in  the  lovely  art  of 
words  and  tones,"  "the  sweetest  of  all  nightingales," 
&c.  It  is  not  known  what  part  of  Germany  was  his 
birthplace,  but  he  travelled  all  over  it  in  the  course 
of  his  life ;  he  was  a  welcome  guest  at  its  courts, 
especially  those  of  Thuringia  and  Austria,  and  he 
was  a  crusader.  His  poems  give  us  the  picture  of  a 
life  such  as  we  can  well  understand  in  these  days, 
however  different  the  circumstances  may  be, — a  life 
full  of  travel,  and  of  interest  in  questions  of  poli- 
tics and  religion,  and  even  of  literature.  For  the 
frequent  reference  to  each  other's  works  by  these 
Minne-singers,  with  criticism  or  with  praise,  shows 
that  those  days  too  had  their  literary  world.  A 
large  number  of  his  poems  are  like  those  of  the 
other  Minne-singers,  filled  with  praises  of  his  lady, 
and  of  the  May-time, — graceful,  tender,  often  quaint 
and  naive  lyrics.     So  one  begins  : — 

"  When  the  flowers  out  of  the  grass  are  springing, 
And  seem  to  laugh  at  the  glorious  sun, 
On  an  early  morning  in  May, 
And  the  little  birds  are  all  loudly  singing 
Their  very  best,  because  summer's  begun, 
'Tis  half  heaven  itself  in  the  May." 


THE  MINNESINGERS.  47 

And  again — 

MAY  MIRACLES. 

Would  ye  see  the  lovely  wonder 

Wrought  us  by  the  May  ? 
See  how  all  are  laughing  yonder, 

Whether  priest  or  lay. 

Mighty  magic  doth  she  hold, 
Whence  it  cometh  who  shall  tell  ? 
But  so  far  as  reigns  her  spell, 

No  one  feeleth  old. 

We  are  full  of  joy  and  springing. 

Welcoming  the  May 
With  our  dancing,  laughing,  singing  : 

No  sad  dumps  to-day  ! 

Heavy  looks  were  now  to  blame ; 
Since  the  birds  in  happy  throngs 
Carol  forth  their  sweetest  songs, 

Let  us  do  the  same  ! 

Gentle  May,  thou  showerest  fairly 

Gifts  afar  and  near ; 
Clothest  all  the  woods  so  rarely 

And  the  meadows  here  : 

O'er  the  heath  new  colours  glow ; 
Flowers  and  clover  on  the  plain, 
Merry  rivals,  strive  amain 

Which  can  fastest  grow. 


Lady !  part  me  from  my  sadness, 
Love  me  while  'tis  May  : 

Mine  is  but  a  borrowed  gladness 
If  thou  frown  alway  ; 


48  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Look  around  and  smile  anew  ! 
All  the  world  is  glad  and  free  ; 
Let  a  little  joy  from  thee 

Fall  to  my  lot  too  ! 

But  others  treat  of  higher  and  more  serious  themes, 
and  show  us  a  man  deeply  engaged  in  the  political 
and  religious  life  of  his  day.  He  was  a  warm  lover  of 
his  country,  but  he  does  not  hesitate  to  rebuke  and 
satirize  his  countrymen,  whether  clergy  or  laity,  for 
their  faults  and  shortcomings.  In  the  great  struggle 
between  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor,  he  is  heart 
and  soul  on  the  national  side,  and  writes  such  stern 
reproofs  and  bitter  epigrams  on  the  Head  of  the 
Church,  as  startle  us  from  one  of  its  sons.  But  he  is 
an  earnest  Christian,  sometimes  lamenting  his  own 
sins  with  simple  penitence,  sometimes  expressing  a 
strong  and  manly  faith.  He  preaches  the  Crusade, 
and  so  heartily  that  he  refuses  the  meed  of  a  poet's 
praises  to  the  archangels  themselves,  if  they  come  not 
to  the  succour  of  Christendom. 

We  give  first  one  of  his  famous  patriotic  songs,  then 
three  of  his  religious  poems,  and  then  a  crusader's 
hymn. 

THE  PRAISE  OF  GERMANY. 

Ye  should  raise  the  cry  of  "  Welcome 
To  the  bearer  of  tidings  " — for  I  am  he  ! 

All  that  ye  have  heard  aforetime 
Was  merely  a  wind ; — now  ask  of  me  ! 
But  my  guerdon  must  not  fail ; 
If  ye  make  me  now  good  cheer, 
I  have  that  to  say  ye  will  love  to  hear ; 
Look,  what  bid  ye  for  my  tale  ? 


THE  MINNESINGERS.  49 

I  will  tell  to  German  ladies 
Such  gentle  tidings  in  this  fair  land, 
•  As  on  earth  may  none  be  sweeter  ; — 

Nor  great  the  guerdon  I  demand. 

Ah  what  could  I  from  them  require  ? 
They  are  too  high  for  me,  I  trow ; 
I  am  modest,  nor  ask  them  to  bend  so  low, 
Fair  greetings  only  I  desire. 

I  have  seen  full  many  a  country, 
And  sought  out  the  best  in  every  part. 

But  if  alien  scene  or  customs 

Could  ever  like  German  please  my  heart, 

May  evil  hap  that  heart  befall ! 

I  speak  the  truth,  for  of  what  avail 

To  strive  unfairly  with  words  or  in  mail  ? 

German  breeding  surpasseth  all. 

From  the  Elbe  stream  to  the  Rhine, 
And  back  to  the  far  Hungarian  ground, 

Dwell  the  best  and  sweetest  women 
That  I  in  all  the  world  have  found. 
If  my  skill  be  true  and  keen 
In  noble  breeding  and  beauty  rare, 
Better  the  women  are  here,  I  swear. 

Than  high  dames  I  have  elsewhere  seen. 

German  man  are  brave  and  modest. 
Like  angels  in  truth  their  women  seem  ; 

He  who  blames  them  is  deluded. 
No  otherwise  of  him  I  deem. 

Noble  Virtue,  constant  Love, 
Let  him  come  hither  who  seeks  for  these, 
They  dwell  in  this  land,  with  joy  and  ease  : 
Long  may  I  live  there,  no  more  to  rove  ! 

S.L.  VI.  £ 


so  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


A  MORNING  PRAYER.  \ 

In  safety  may  I  rise  to-day  ;1  *              \ 

Lord  God,  defend  Thou  all  my  way,  ; 

Where'er  I  go  or  ride  throughout  the  land.  '\ 
O  Christ,  now  suffer  me  to  prove 

The  mighty  power  of  Thy  dear  love,  | 

And  for  Thy  mother's  sake  guard  me  on  every  hand : 

As  holy  angels  from  on  high  | 

Once  guarded  Thee  when  Thou  didst  lie,  i 

Thou  ancient  God,  a  babe  of  days,  i 

Before  the  ox  and  ass  so  meek  and  still ; 
When  Joseph  ever  good  and  true 

To  Thee  and  them  gave  tendance  due,  I 

With  faithful  care  that  still  hath  praise  :  \ 

So  care  Thou,  Lord,  for  me,  in  me  fulfil  \ 
Thine  own  commands,  and  keep  me  in  Thy  ways.         | 


EQUALITY  BEFORE  GOD. 

Lord  God,  if  one  A\'ithout  due  fear 

Repeat  Thy  ten  commandments  here, 
And  break  them  then, — not  true  His  love  to  Thee. 

So  if  one  call  Thee  Father,  yet 

His  brethren  own  not,  or  forget, 
Sick  is  his  heart,  though  sound  his  words  may  be. 

Thou  madest  us  of  self-same  blood, 

We  eat  alike,  and  live  by  food  ; 
If  one  should  find  a  heap  of  bones 
From  which  the  worms  have  stripped  the  fleshly  pall. 

How  could  he  lord  from  servant  tell. 

Though  once  he  might  have  known  them  well  ? 
God  sits  above  all  earthly  thrones, 
And  feeds  all  living  creatures  great  and  small ; 
Jews,  Heathens,  Christians,  are  His  servants  all. 


THE  MINNESINGERS.  51 


REPENTANCE. 

How  seldom  praise  I  Thee,  to  whom  all  lauds  belong  ! 

Yet  since  from  Thee  I  hold  both  speech  and  song, 

How  dare  thy  vassal  do  Thy  rule  such  wrong  ? 
Alas  !  nor  rightful  works,  nor  proper  love  is  mine 

To  Thee,  my  Father,  nor  my  fellows  here. 

None  yet  to  me  as  my  own  self  was  dear : 
Father  and  Son,  one  God,  Thy  Spirit  in  me  shine  ! 

How  shall  I  love  him  who  hath  wrought  me  ill  ? 

He  who  hath  done  me  good  must  aye  be  dearer  still. 
Forgive  my  sins,  I  yet  towards  this  will  set  my  will ! 


IN  THE  HOLY  LAND. 

Now  at  last  is  life  worth  living, 
Since  my  sinful  eyes  behold 

This  pure  land,  where  One  forgiving 
Wrought  such  mighty  deeds  of  old  ! 

What  I  prayed  for  now  I  have, 

I  behold  the  soil,  the  grave. 

Where  God  dwelt  as  Man,  to  save. 

Lovely  Land,  so  rich  in  story. 

Far  above  all  I  have  seen 
Dost  thou  bear  the  palm  of  glory ; 

Ah  what  wonders  here  have  been  ! 
That  a  Virgin  bare  a  Child 
Lord  of  angels,  yet  so  mild, 
Sounds  it  not  a  wonder  wild  ? 

Here  baptized  was  He  most  holy. 

Purity  for  us  to  win. 
Stooped  to  bondage  sore  and  lowly, 

To  set  free  the  slaves  of  sin. 
E  2 


52  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

But  for  Him  were  we  forlorn, 

His  sharp  spear  and  crown  of  thorn  ; 

Heathen,  dare  ye  Him  to  scorn  ? 

Ah  how  far  His  pity  stretches, 
Tasting  death  in  very  deed, 

He  the  rich  for  us  poor  wretches. 
But  to  save  us  in  our  need  ! 

That  He  shrank  not  from  such  woe, 

Willingly  could  bend  so  low, 

Greater  wonder  could  one  know  ? 

Here  the  Son  to  hell  descended 
From  the  grave  wherein  He  lay, 

By  the  Father  still  attended 

And  the  Spirit,  whom  none  may 

Sever  from  Him.     They  are  One, 

Sole  and  glorious  as  the  sun  ; 

So  it  was  ere  time  begun. 

There  He  hath  the  devil  vanquished. 
Whom  no  Kaiser  e'er  could  quell. 
Freed  those  who  in  prison  languished ; 

Then  sore  griefs  the  Jews  befell. 
He  whom  they  had  wrought  such  woes 
Broke  their  strictest  watch,  and  rose 
Living  Conqu'ror  o'er  His  foes. 

Forty  days  this  land  beholds  Him, 
Forty  days,  and  then  He  went 

Where  the  Father's  light  enfolds  Him, 
Whence  His  Spirit  He  hath  sent, — 

May  He  keep  us  in  His  grace  ! 

Holy  is  this  land  and  place 

That  hath  seen  God  face  to  face  ! 


THE  MINNESINGERS.  53 


Here  He  told  of  that  expected 

Day  of  terrors,  long  deferred, 
When  the  prayers,  by  men  rejected, 

Of  the  widow  shall  be  heard, 
And  the  oppressed  shall  find  a  friend, 
And  the  wise  no  arts  defend ; 
Chasten  now,  ere  comes  that  end  ! 

Then  that  Judge's  righteous  sentence 

No  lament  hath  power  to  stay  ; 
Here,  O  here  may  be  repentance, 

Wait  not  for  the  final  day ; 
Pledge  nor  hostage  then  avail, 
Thou  must  answer  without  fail, 
And  thyself  meet  bliss  or  bale. 

But  if  what  I  now  have  spoken 

Seemeth  not  to  you  too  long. 
List  one  moment  yet,  ere  broken 

Fails  the  current  of  my  song. 
All  God's  mightiest  works  for  man 
Here  in  this  fair  land  began. 
Here  too  ends  the  wondrous  plan. 

Christians,  Heathens,  Jews  assever 

Each  that  it  is  theirs  of  right ; 
God  alone,  the  bless'd  for  ever. 

Must  decide  it  with  His  might. 
All  the  world  is  fighting  here. 
Ours  the  rightful  cause,  no  fear 
God  will  make  its  justice  clear ! 

The  Minne-songs,  which  form  a  purely  lyrical 
poetry,  were  soon  followed  by  poems  of  the  narrative 
and  didactic  class.  Early  in  this  same  thirteenth 
century    the    Nibclungen-Lied    received    its   present 


54  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

shape ;  and  the  old  legends,  some  like  this  taken 
from  the  heathen  times,  others  of  purely  Christian 
origin,  became  the  favourite  subjects  of  the  poets. 
The  stories  of  Tristram,  Percival,  and  the  quest  of 
the  Holy  Grail — knightly  romances  and  histories  of 
saints  that  were  half  mystical  and  symbolical,  half 
legendary — must  have  filled  the  imaginations  of 
youths  and  ladies  in  those  days  as  novels  do  in  ours. 
Most  of  these  stories  were  connected  with  that  circle 
of  legends  of  which  King  Arthur  and  his  Round 
Table  form  the  centre,  and  were  thus  derived  from  a 
foreign,  generally  from  a  French  or  Provengal  source, 
but  their  treatment  was  entirely  German.  It  soon 
betrays  two  opposite  tendencies,  one  of  which  takes 
up  the  external  side  of  these  romances,  that  of  love 
of  adventure  and  worldly  success ;  while  the  other 
brings  into  relief  their  religious  element  and  the 
development  of  character,  and  anticipates  in  the 
latter  respect  somewhat  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
modern  novel.  Of  these  schools  the  representative 
types  are  Gottfried  von  Strasburg  and  Wolfram  von 
Eschenbach.  The  former  chose  for  the  subject  of  his 
longest  poem  the  story  of  Tristram  and  Iseult,  and 
makes  it  the  vehicle  of  depicting  the  knightly  life  of 
his  own  times  on  its  most  stirring  and  fascinating  side. 
The  latter  selects  the  quest  of  the  Holy  Grail 
by  Sir  Percival,  and  embodies  in  his  poem  those 
grave  and  high  conceptions  of  knightly  duty  and 
religious  faith,  which  characterise  the  more  serious 
thought  of  his  day.  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach  was 
a  Bavarian  by  birth,  of  ancient  and  noble  family,  but 
being  a  younger  son,  he  possessed  but  little  worldly 
wealth,    and   seems   to   have   led   a   wandering   life. 


SIR  PERCIVAL.  55 


welcome  as  knight  and  poet  alike  at  the  German 
courts  and  castles.  From  the  frequent  allusions  in 
his  principal  poem  to  the  court  of  Thuringia,  he  rfo 
doubt  formed  one  of  the  band  of  knights,  poets,  and 
adventurers,  who  gathered  round  the  Landgrave 
Hermann  of  Thuringia,  and  made  that  little  court  at 
once  brilliant  and  disturbed.  Wolfram's  lifetime  coin- 
cided with  the  brightest  period  of  the  German  Empire 
under  the  Hohenstauffens,  for  he  was  born  under 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  and  died  under  Frederick  II. 
German  chivalry  was  then  at  its  highest  point, 
and  religious  fervour  was  kindled  to  enthusiasm  by 
the  Crusades ;  thus  it  is  but  natural  that  these  should 
form  the  moving  springs  of  his  romance.  It  opens 
with  the  history  of  Gamuret,  the  father  of  Percival,  a 
younger  son  of  the  noble  house  of  Anjou,  a  knight  of 
the  adventure-loving  order,  who  can  never  enjoy  life 
but  in  stirring  action.  He  takes  service  at  one  time 
under  the  Caliph  of  Bagdad,  and  wins  the  hand  of  a 
Saracen  princess.  But  he  soon  leaves  her  to  seek 
new  conflicts,  and  after  his  departure  she  bears  him  a 
son,  who  grows  up  a  heathen,  but  a  very  brave  and 
noble  knight.  At  last  in  Spain  he  obtains,  as  victor 
in  a  tournament,  the  hand  of  the  queen  and  a  large 
territory,  and  for  a  time  lives  happily  with  his  wife  ; 
but  hearing  that  his  former  sovereign  is  in  need  of  his 
services,  he  sets  out  for  the  East,  and  is  slain  by  the 
way.  The  queen  almost  dies  of  grief  for  his  death, 
but  lives  at  last  for  the  sake  of  her  little  son  Percival. 
Fearing,  however,  lest  he  should  inherit  his  father's 
spirit  and  meet  with  his  father's  fate,  she  retires  with 
him  into  a  deep  forest,  where  she  brings  him  up 
in   perfect   seclusion,    and    forbids   the  few  faithful 


56  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

attendants  who  had  followed  her,  ever  to  name  chi- 
valry or  knighthood  in  his  presence  : — 

"  Each  mom  he  bathes  him  in  the  stream ; 
Of  care  or  harm  he  does  not  dream ; 
But  when  the  birds'  delicious  song 
Held  ear  and  heart  in  magic  strong, 
His  breast  swells  with  a  longing  deep ; 

The  child  runs  to  his  mother's  side ; 
But  when  she  asks,  '  What  makes  thee  weep  ? ' 

He  cannot  tell  and  will  not  bide, 

As  children  wont  at  every  tide. 
His  mother,  filled  with  wakeful  care, 
Watches  his  footsteps  everywhere. 
Till  once,  unseen,  she  sees  her  boy 
Lost  in  a  dream  of  vaguest  joy, 
Listening  to  that  sweet  song.     Then  she 
Swore  the  birds'  enemy  to  be  ; 
She  bade  her  squires  to  catch  and  kill 
All  birds  they  found,  the  good  and  ill. 
But  ah  !  the  birds  were  craftier  yet ; 
They  slipped  away  from  bow  and  net. 
And  sweeter  still  o'er  copse  and  corn 
Rang  their  dear  song  at  break  of  mom. 
The  boy  then  asked  her  wherefore  she 
To  harmless  birds  was  enemy, — 
*  Dear  mother,  let  these  murders  cease, 
And  let  us  live  with  them  at  peace.' 
The  mother  kissed  her  lovely  boy ; 

'  How  could  I  thus  break  God's  command, 
Who  made  them  but  for  purest  joy ! ' 

Awhile  the  boy  doth  musing  stand  ; 
'  Who  is  God  ?  mother  mine,'  he  saith. 
'  My  child,  receive  my  words  in  faith : 


S/I?  PERCIVAL.  57 


God  dwells  above  us  bright  as  day ; 

Mercy  and  love  are  His  alway : 

Cry  to  Him  in  the  hour  of  need  ;  # 

He  loves  to  help,  and  that  with  speed. 

But  there  is  one,  His  direst  foe, 

Faithless  and  cruel ;  far  below 

That  Black  one  dwells  in  darkest  night : 

Heed  not  his  lures,  nor  fear  his  might, 

But  even  in  thought  from  him,  O  flee ; 

From  him  and  Doubt,  O  keep  thee  free." 

But  her  precautions  are  unavailing.  One  day  three 
shining  knights  come  riding  through  the  green  forest. 
The  boy  thinks  they  must  be  gods,  they  are  so  bright, 
and  kneels  to  them.  They  tell  him  they  are  knights, 
show  him  their  weapons,  and,  when  he  wants  to 
know  how  he  may  become  like  them,  tell  him  to  seek 
King  Arthur's  court.  Now  nothing  can  detain  the 
boy,  his  mother  finds  her  tears  are  useless,  and  gives 
permission  for  his  departure ;  but  hoping  to  drive  him 
back  to  her  through  disgust  with  the  world,  she 
sends  him  forth  in  a  fool's  dress,  bidding  him  to  wear 
it  for  her  sake,  to  honour  old  men,  and  to  prize  a 
woman's  kiss  and  her  ring.  So  he  sets  out,  and 
meets  with  various  adventures  to  which  his  simplicity 
and  unknightly  dress  give  a  half-comic  air ;  he  makes 
his  way,  however,  by  dint  of  courage  and  straight- 
forwardness, and  comes  at  last  to  King  Arthur's 
court.  Here  he  undertakes  a  combat  with  a  knight 
in  red  armour,  Ither,  and  slays  him ;  but  though 
Arthur  and  Guinevere  receive  him  kindly,  touched 
by  his  beauty,  his  courage,  and  his  simplicity,  he 
finds  himself  an  object  of  derision  to  the  other 
knights  and  ladies,  and  makes  his  escape   carrying 


58  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

with  him  the  armour  and  horse  of  the  Red  Knight. 
After  a  while  he  reaches  the  castle  of  a  grey-haired 
noble  knight,  and,  remembering  his  mother's  in- 
structions to  ask  the  counsel  of  old  men,  he  goes 
up  to  the  knight  and  requests  from  him  shelter  and 
advice.  Here  he  remains  for  some  time,  and  speedily 
becomes  proficient  in  knightly  exercises  and  de- 
meanour, assisted  partly  by  a  flying  fancy  that  he 
feels  for  his  host's  fair  daughter,  Liasse.  But  he 
knows  that  he  has  not  yet  earned  the  right  to  a 
lady's  love,  and  moreover  the  longing  for  action  is 
upon  him,  and  so  once  more  he  departs : — 

"  In  dress  and  manners  now  need  he 
Ne'er  blush  in  noblest  company  ; 
Yet  had  his  master's  teachings  stirred 
Thoughts  that  till  then  had  slept  unheard, 
That  made  his  heart  beat  restlessly. 
Too  small  his  world  seems  now  to  him, 
Too  strait  its  bounds,  its  light  too  dim  ; 
A  mist  before  his  eyes  seemed  spread, 
No  charm  was  in  the  verdant  mead, 
In  him  and  round  him  twilight  grey  ; — 
His  ignorance  had  passed  away." 

In  time  he  meets  with  a  most  beautiful  princess, 
Konduiramir,  who  is  besieged  by  cruel  foes ;  he 
rescues  her,  falls  deeply  in  love  with  her,  and  is  at 
last  rewarded  by  her  hand  and  crown,  and  lives  for 
a  time  happily  with  her.  The  land  flourishes  under 
his  wise  and  mild  sway,  and  all  seems  going  well, 
till  he  remembers  how  long  it  is  since  he  has  had 
news  of  his  mother,  and  sets  forth  to  find  her  once 
more. 


SIR  PERCIVAL.  59 


Riding  alone  beside  a  lake  in  the  deep  forest,  he 
meets  with  the  sick  king,  Amfortas,  disguised  as  a 
fisherman,  who  directs  him  to  a  wondrous  castle, 
Monsalvas,  which  is  in  truth  the  abode  of  the  San- 
greal,  or  as  it  is  always  called  in  this  poem,  "  the 
Holy  Grail."  The  Holy  Grail  was  said  to  be  a  vessel 
of  pure  emerald,  belonging  to  Joseph  of  Arimathaea, 
from  which  our  Lord  had  partaken  of  the  Last  Pass- 
over, and  which  had  received  the  blood  that  flowed 
from  His  wounded  Side.  Since  then  it  was  said  to 
dwell  in  a  certain  palace,  guarded  and  served  by 
knights  and  ladies.  Wherever  it  appeared  it  bestowed 
what  was  needed  for  earthly  wants,  and  for  the  soul's 
salvation ;  but  none  could  see  it  except  by  special 
grace,  and  none  were  admitted  to  its  service  except 
the  pure  and  devoted.  Sir  Percival  is  now  put  to  the 
test,  by  being  permitted  to  behold  the  Holy  Grail. 
He  is  admitted  to  the  splendid  castle,  and  treated 
with  hospitality ;  he  sees  the  sick  King  Amfortas,  who 
is  suffering  acute  anguish  from  a  poisoned  wound. 
The  Holy  Vessel  is  borne  through  the  banqueting 
hall  by  its  train  of  beautiful  virgins,  but  Sir  Percival 
remains  unmoved ;  he  asks  not  the  meaning  of 
what  he  sees,  he  asks  not  why  Amfortas  is  suffering 
thus.  So  he  goes  to  rest ;  when  he  wakes  the 
next  morning,  the  castle  is  still  and  deserted;  in 
the  courtyard  he  finds  his  horse  ready  saddled  and 
bridled,  but  no  one  is  to  be  seen.  As  he  leaves 
the  castle  a  groom  calls  after  him  from  one  of  the 
towers,  bidding  him  depart  as  hateful  to  the  sun. 
Percival  turns  in  anger,  but  the  window  is  closed, 
and  not  a  creature  is  visible.  A  little  further  he 
meets   his   cousin   Sigima,  who  is   mourning  in  the 


6o  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

forest  over  the  death  of  her  lover,  and  the  story  of 
whose  faithful  love  and  grief  forms  a  touching  episode. 
She  hears  where  he  has  been,  and  explains  to  him 
all  he  has  witnessed,  but  when  she  finds  that  neither 
pity  nor  wonder  had  moved  him  to  speak,  she  cries 
woe  upon  him  and  drives  him  from  her. 

Percival  rides  on  "with  a  thorn  in  his  heart,"  but 
without  clearly  seeing  what  he  has  done  wrong,  nor 
does  he  for  some  time  experience  any  ill  effects  from  it. 
On  the  contrary,  after  various  successful  adventures,  he 
reaches  King  Arthur's  court,  where  he  is  received 
with  acclamations ;  a  splendid  banquet  is  prepared  in 
his  honour,  and  Gawain,  the  King's  nephew,  shows 
him  especial  friendship.  But  in  the  midst  of  the 
banquet,  when  the  festivity  is  at  its  height,  his  fate 
overtakes  him.  Kundria  the  sorceress,  a  terrible 
messenger  from  the  Sangreal,  rides  into  the  hall,  tells 
the  knights  that  they  and  their  Round  Table  are 
dishonoured  by  the  fellowship  of  Percival,  relates  the 
story  of  his  visit  to  Monsalvas,  then  tells  them  of 
another  quest  of  the  Castle  Merveilleux,  in  which 
also  honour  is  to  be  won,  and  disappears.  She  is 
followed  by  a  strange  knight,  who  accuses  Gawain 
of  wrong,  and  challenges  him  fiercely.  All  the 
knights  rise  from  table,  and  gather  round  Gawain 
and  Percival  to  console  them.  But  Percival  is  in- 
consolable : — 


"  There  stunned  and  mute  sits  Percival,- 
Ah,  what  avails  the  manhood  now 

•    Of  that  brave  heart,  its  chastity. 
Its  lofty  aims  and  aedent  glow  ? 


S/J?  PERCIVAL.  6 1 


He  is  disgraced  before  them  all. 

Yet  innocent  and  pure  is  he, 
No  vice  can  in  his  life  be  found, 
Ne'er  have  his  steps  transgressed  the  bound 
Of  modesty,  the  soul's  true  prize 
And  fairest  crown  in  noble  eyes. 

*  #  *  # 

"  Gawain  embraced  the  valiant  man, 

And  strives  to  cheer  him  as  he  can, 
*  O  friend,  thy  journey  well  I  know 
Will  bring  thee  many  a  toil  and  woe  : 
God  give  thee  luck,  and  grant  to  me 
In  time  of  need  to  succour  thee.' 

But  Percival  cried,  '  What  is  God  ? 

Would  He  have  suffered  such  a  load 

Of  scorn  to  fall  on  thee  and  me 

Were  He  so  good  and  great  and  free? 

The  fountain  of  His  might  is  dry. 

Him  truly  served  my  arm  and  heart, 

My  recompense  is  this  sore  smart ; 

Henceforth  His  service  I  resign. 

If  He  hath  wrath,  that  wrath  be  mine. 

O  friend,  thou  go'st  to  war  and  strife, 

Take  for  thy  aid  a  faithful  wife, 

A  woman  fair  and  chaste  and  good. 

Complete  in  tender  womanhood  ; 

Be  she  thy  guide,  thy  strength,  and  guard. 

Her  love  will  be  thy  best  reward.' " 

He  determines  to  start  at  once  on  the  quest  of  the 
Holy  Grail,  and  not  to  return  until  his  honour  is 
restored.  Gawain  undertakes  the  quest  of  the  Castle 
Merveilleux,  and  so  the  two  depart.  From  this 
point    the    story   divides,    sometimes    following   the 


62  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

fortunes  of  one,  sometimes  of  the  other  hero.  But 
the  story  of  Gawain  is  not  a  mere  episode:  he 
represents  the  child  of  this  world  ;  brave,  ready,  un- 
troebled  by  deeper  thoughts,  he  meets  with  difficulties 
indeed,  but  with  far  more  good  luck  and  brilliant 
success  than  Percival,  until  the  latter  accomplishes 
his  object  at  last.  Percival,  on  the  contrary,  encounters 
life  in  a  much  more  dreary  and  commonplace  aspect ; 
for  five  years  he  wanders  on,  never  reconciled  to  God, 
taking  no  pleasure  in  anything,  meeting  with  no 
brilliant  adventures,  but  carrying  in  his  heart  an 
intense  longing  to  behold  once  more  the  Holy  Grail, 
repair  his  fault,  and  then  to  be  reunited  to  his  wife, 
whom  he  never  forgets.  At  last  he  meets  with  a 
hermit,  Trevizrent,  a  brother  of  Amfortas,  to  whom 
he  tells  all  his  sorrows,  and  whose  instructions  at  last 
restore  him  to  faith.     Percival  says  : — 

"  Like  to  a  dream  my  joy  is  fled, 
A  weight  of  grief  is  on  my  head  ; 
Wliere  church  and  minsters  fairly  rise, 
I  ne'er  am  seen  by  mortal  eyes  ; 
In  strife  and  combat  am  I  known, 
Yet  hate  I  none  but  God  alone ; 
For  He,  revengeful,  sends  me  scorn 
And  sorrows  scarcely  to  be  borne. 
If  God  would  give  us  help  indeed, 
No  anchor  else  my  life  would  need, 
But  jealous  of  my  just  renown, 
Fate  all  my  deeds  with  thorns  doth  crown  ; 
And  could  God  help  it,  could  He  right : — 
Let  men  praise  as  they  will  His  might ; — 
I  cry  aloud  unjust  is  He 
Who  leaves  me  bound  by  misery." 


SIR  PERCIVAL.  63 


Trevizrent  replies  by  making  Percival  see  how  his 
conduct  at  Monsalvas  proved  him  unworthy  of  the 
honour  that  had  been  done  him  in  admitting  him  to 
the  vision  of  the  Holy  Grail ;  how  his  youthful  impe- 
tuosity had  been  the  cause  of  his  mother's  death,  who 
had  expired  of  grief  for  his  long  absence ;  and  how 
his  love  of  strife  had  led  him  to  kill  the  Red  Knight, 
who  was  his  own  cousin,  a  man  of  great  virtue  and 
purity,  and  would  have  been  his  friend.  Towards 
God  his  sin  is  defined  as  disloyalty,  the  forsaking  his 
rightful  allegiance  on  the  touch  of  trial.  Throughout 
the  poem  we  find  that  man's  highest  duty  is  conceived 
as  loyalty  to  the  various  relations  in  which  he  may  be 
placed,  whether  towards  God  or  man.  Doubt,  fickle- 
ness, inconstancy  are  the  deepest  stains  on  a  knight. 
Trevizent  thus  vindicates  the  justice  of  God  in 
punishing  him,  and  then  goes  on  to  speak  of  the  help 
he  may  yet  expect  from  Him  : — 


"  Eternally  shall  sound  His  praise 
Who  showed  to  man  such  wealth  of  grace, 
His  noble  nature  bowed  to  us 
And  stooped  to  wear  our  likeness  thus. 
God's  name  and  nature  is  pure  Truth, 

He  hateth  all  disloyalty  ; 
Then  think  upon  thy  life  with  ruth. 

And  let  thy  firm  decision  be 
Never  from  Him  to  turn  aside, 
Who  still  is  true  whate'er  betide. 


He  is  the  Father  far  above, 
Whose  essence  is  unfaltering  Love  ;* 


64  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Yet  love  or  wrath  the  world  may  choose ; 
Ah  woe  !  if  thou  that  love  refuse  ! 
*  *  •)(■  * 

But  God  is  also  radiant  Light, 
Piercing  the  thickest  walls  with  might ; 
No  secret  irhpulse  stirs  the  breast 
But  stands  before  that  eye  confest ; 
The  swiftest  thought  He  sees  and  tries 
Ere  it  from  heart  to  lips  can  rise. 
If  God  so  judge  each  thought  that  lurks 
Within  thee,  on  thy  own  vain  works 
How  wilt  thou  dare  to  found  a  claim  ? 
Must  thou  not  bend  with  inward  shame 
I  Before  that  Perfect  Purity, 

And  ask  His  grace  to  succour  thee  ? 
Thou  hast  thy  choice,  or  love  or  wrath, 
But  choose,  oh  choose,  the  better  path  ; 
Changed  be  thy  mind,  then  shalt  thou  prove 
That  God  can  look  on  thee  with  love." 

Percival  now  becomes  reconciled  to  God  ;  he  remains 
fifteen  days  sharing  the  hermit's  fare,  and  learning 
from  him  the  true  history  of  the  Holy  Grail,  and  the 
meaning  of  all  he  saw,  and  then  once  more  sets  out 
on  his  quest.  In  course  of  time  he  arrives  at  King 
Arthur's  court,  just  at  the  moment  when  Gawain  has 
returned  from  his  successful  expeditions,  bringing 
with  him  the  beautiful  Duchess  Orgueilleuse,  who 
has  consented  to  become  his  wife.  Once  she  had 
attempted  to  lure  Percival  from  his  allegiance  to 
Konduiramir,  but  in  vain.  Gawain  has  now  invited 
the  whole  Round  Table  to  v/itness  his  nuptials,  and 
his  combat  with  Gramoflanz.  Early  in  the  morning 
he  rides  out  to  try  his  powers,  he  meets  with  Percival, 


S/Ji  PERCIVAL.  ^5 


and,  not  recognising  him,  attacks  him  ;  they  fight 
long.  Just  as  Percival  is  about  to  win  the  victory  an 
exclamation  of  the  squire's  betrays  to  him  his  oppo- 
nent's name ;  he  instantly  flings  away  his  sword, 
dismounts,  and  reproaches  himself  for  having  fought 
with  his  friend.  The  combat  with  Gramoflanz  is  post- 
poned to  the  next  day,  to  give  Gawain  time  to  recover. 
Percival  however  contrives  at  dawn  to  take  it  upon 
himself,  in  order  to  spare  Gawain,  and  overthrows 
Gramoflanz.  He  gives  him  his  life ;  Gawain  and  he 
are  reconciled,  and  three  marriages  are  arranged  at 
once.  Percival  is  restored  to  his  place  at  the  Round 
Table,  and  treated  with  the  highest  distinction. 
Many  a  lady  would  fain  try  to  console  the  stately 
knight,  who  never  smiles  except  in  courtesy  ;  but  he 
cares  for  no  one  but  Konduiramir,  and  all  the  happy 
love  around  him  only  quickens  his  longing  after  her. 
He  lies  awake  till  dawn,  then 


"  His  eye  doth  on  the  armour  rest 
That  lies  before  him,  and  his  breast 
Anew  is  filled  with  heavy  sighs  : 
'  If  Fate  for  aye  to  me  denies 
What  on  her  favourites  she  bestows, 

The  joy  of  happy  love,  whose  power 
Can  put  to  flight  the  sorest  woes, 

Nought  else  I  ask  that  she  can  shower. 
But  God  wills  not  such  happiness  ! 
If  we  had  loved  each  other  less, 
The  tie  might  break,  and  I  might  find 
Some  solace  elsewhere  to  my  mind. 
But  her  love  hath  such  hold  on  me. 
Who  never  from  my  griefs  am  free, 
S.U  VI.  F 


66  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


i:.  No  love  or  joy  can  in  me  dwell, 

My  sickness  is  incurable. 
Fate  loves  to  give  in  lavish  measure 
To  those  who  strive  for  earthly  pleasure  ! 
God  give  sweet  joy  to  all  men  here  ! 
But  from  their  host  I  disappear." 

But  his  time  of  trial  is  now  nearly  at  an  end.  Not 
far  from  the  camp  he  encounters  his  half-brother  the 
heathen  Feirefiss ;  they  fight :  Percival  is  almost 
overcome,  but  his  strength  is  restored  by  prayer,  and 
he  is  on  the  point  of  conquering,  when  his  sword 
breaks  in  his  hand.  The  relationship  is  now  dis- 
covered ;  Percival  returns  to  Arthur's  camp  with  his 
brother,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  rejoicings  Kundria 
the  sorceress  appears  once  more  to  tell  him  that  he  is 
accepted  as  the  monarch  of  the  Holy  Grail.  He  sets 
out  for  Monsalvas,  heals  Amfortas  by  the  power  of 
prayer,  and  then  is  suffered  to  meet  with  Kondui- 


ramir. 


■  So  Percival  rode  all  night  through 
To  meet  that  lady  sweet  and  true ; 
Till  with  the  earliest  blush  of  day 
A  host  of  tents  before  him  lay, 
Pitched  on  the  dewy  flowery  sward, 
Bright  banners  floating  all  abroad. 

*  *  *  -X- 

He  finds  the  tent  where  sleeps  the  Queen 
Among  her  women,  and  between 
Her  beauteous  twuns ; — Ah,  now  at  last 
His  joy  is  come,  his  griefs  are  past ! 
There  on  the  bed  of  whitest  snow 
Three  lovely  heads  like  roses  glow, 


S/J^  PERCIVAL.  Sj 

Lit  by  the  morning  beam  they  sleep, 
Smiling  in  slumber  calm  and  deep. 

*  *  *  * 

Till  the  Queen  wakened,  opes  her  eyes, 

Beholds  him  there  with  glad  surprise, 

And  springs  to  her  great  hero's  breast. 

By  joy  itself  o'ercome,  opprest, 

With  kisses  covers  all  his  face, 

And  holds  him  in  a  close  embrace. 

She  cries  :  '  Thee  now  my  God  doth  send, 

My  heart's  delight,  my  only  joy ; 
At  last,  at  last  there  is  an  end 

Of  mournful  days  and  long  annoy  ; 
I  have  my  heart's  most  fervent  prayer. 
And  fled  is  every  thought  of  care.' " 

They  now  all  proceed  to  Monsalvas.  Feirefiss  receives 
baptism,  which  enables  him  to  behold  the  Holy 
Grail ;  he  marries  the  royal  virgin  who  has  hitherto 
borne  it,  and  the  two  return  to  the  far  East  to  spread 
the  true  faith  there.  The  younger  of  Percival's  twin- 
sons  is  sent  back  to  the  world  to  become  the  king  of 
his  temporal  dominions,  and  Percival  himself  with 
Konduiramir  and  his  elder  son  are  left  reigning  at 
Monsalvas. 

"  So  I,  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach, 
Following  the  Master  whom  I  trust. 
Have  told  the  story  true  and  just 
Of  the  great  deeds  of  Percival, 
His  noble  race,  his  children  all ; 
I  leave  him  in  that  lofty  place 
Where  he  was  called  by  Heaven's  high  grace, 
F  2 


68  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

And  he  whose  Ufe  shall  end  like  this, 
Whose  soul  no  guilt  or  bitterness 
From  God  above  hath  power  to  part, 
Whose  valiant  arm  and  noble  heart 
Earth's  homage  too  of  right  obtain, — 
I  trow  he  hath  not  lived  in  vain." 

Such  is  a  slight  sketch  of  the  finest  and  most 
earnest  of  these  early  German  romantic  epics.  The 
style  is  at  times  long-winded  and  prolix, — thus  we 
have  two  pages  full  of  all  the  remedies  tried  by 
Amfortas  for  his  wounds, — but  the  poem  is  pervaded 
not  only  by  a  lofty  tone  of  thought  and  feeling,  but  by 
much  grace,  tenderness,  and  imagination,  with  touches 
of  humour,  and  half-sarcastic,  half-courtly  allusions  to 
the  life  and  the  writings  of  his  own  times. 

But  as  dark  days  came  over  Germany,  after  the  fall 
of  the  Hohenstauffens,  the  bloom  of  her  knightly 
poetry  faded,  and  another  style,  chiefly  didactic  or 
my.stical,  but  of  much  lower  poetic  merit,  took  its 
place. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


DARK   TIMES   AND   BRIGHT   TIMES. 


A.D.     1253— 1500. 


Perplexed  and  troubled  indeed  must  have  been 
many  hearts  in  the  trials  that  now  fell  on  Germany. 
Frederick  II.,  the  last  of  the  Hohenstaufifens,  a  wise 
and  brave  prince,  a  patron  of  the  large  cities  and  of 
learning,  and  a  successful  crusader,  died  in  1250;  and 
for  twenty-three  years  Germany  was  without  a  settled 
head,  until  the  choice  of  the  princes  devolved  on 
Rudolph  of  Hapsburg.  To  a  great  extent  every  man 
did  that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes ;  and  as  there 
existed  a  numerous  class  of  returned  crusaders  and 
unemployed  soldiers,  the  smaller  castles  all  over  the 
country  were  soon  transformed  into  robber-strong- 
holds, whose  inhabitants  lived  by  levying  a  sort  of 
black-mail  on  the  merchants  and  peasants  whom  they 
despised.  The  great  cities  alone  were  able  to  protect 
themselves ;  they  purchased  or  assumed  their  freedom 
from  the  lords  who  still  asserted  manorial  rights  over 
them,  and  leagued  together  to  defend  it,  forming  the 
Swabian  league  in  the  South  and  the  Hanseatic  in 
the  North  ;  and  from  this  time  onwards  we  find  them 
sending  deputies  to  the  diet,  and  recognised  as  an 
independent  portion  of  the  empire.  Rudolph  of 
Hapsburg  did  his  best  to  restore  order,  and  destroyed, 


70  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

it  is  said,  in  Thuringia  alone  seventy  of  the  robber- 
castles,  whose  ruins  still  add  to  the  picturesqueness  of 
that  region  of  wooded  hills  and  romantic  glens.  But 
the  twenty  years  of  his  reign  Avere  but  an  interval 
of  peace  amid  a  succession  of  storms.  During  the 
first  half  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  distractions 
of  Germany  reached  their  height.  There  were  rival 
emperors  at  home,  rival  popes  abroad,  and  bitter 
conflicts  between  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers. 
On  the  25th  November,  13 14,  two  emperors,  Frederick 
of  Austria  and  Louis  of  Bavaria,  were  crowned  at  once  ;■ 
and  for  eight  years,  until  the  battle  of  Miihldorff  in 
1322,  a  desolating  warfare  between  their  respective 
partisans  was  carried  on  all  over  the  country.  While 
the  struggle  lasted  the  Pope  declined  to  pronounce 
decisively  in  favour  of  either  candidate,  but  was  sup- 
posed to  lean  to  the  side  of  Louis  of  Bavaria.  When, 
however,  Louis  was  left  master  of  the  field,  the  Pope 
refused  to  acknowledge  him,  unless  he  consented  in 
the  fullest  terms,  to  hold  the  empire  as  a  fief  of  the 
Holy  See.  To  this  Louis  would  not  accede,  and  he 
was  supported  by  the  diet,  who  gave  him  their  undi- 
vided vote,  and  at  last  declared  that  the  unanimous 
choice  of  the  country  was  the  true  source  of  the 
imperial  dignity,  and  sufficed  to  bestow  it  Avithout 
any  consent  of  the  Pope.  The  Pope  now  laid  Ger- 
rhany  under  an  interdict,  which  was  not  removed 
from  some  districts  for  twenty-six  years.  During  an 
interdict  all  the  ordinary  ministrations  of  religion  were 
suspended  ;  no  church  was  open,  no  bell  was  heard,  no 
sacrament  but  those  of  baptism  and  extreme  unction 
was  administered.  To  these  social  and  spiritual  cala- 
mities were  added,  as  is  often  the  case  in  times  of 


THE  FLAGELLANTS,  7I 

political  convulsion,  natural  ones.  Germany  was 
visited  with  earthquakes,  plagues  of  grasshoppers  or 
locusts,  and  bad  harvests,  in  the  train  of  which  came 
that  fearful  pestilence  known  as  the  Black  Death, 
which  swept  over  Europe  in  the  middle  of  this  century, 
and  the  full  extent  of  which  we  are  only  now  begin- 
ning to  appreciate.  It  passed  over  Germany  in  1348^ 
bringing  the  usual  accompaniments  of  such  terrible 
visitations,  in  lawlessness,  outbursts  of  despair,  and 
some  scattered  examples  of  heroic  devotion.  It  was 
no  wonder  that  men's  minds  grew  unsettled.  Some 
believed  that  the  last  times  had  come,  and  that  the 
end  of  the  world  was  at  hand.  Some  looked  for  a 
Messiah  in  the  person  of  the  "  Priest-hater,"  Frederick 
II.,  who  was  to  rise  from  the  dead,  do  justice,  humble 
the  clergy,  and  lay  down  his  crown  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives.  Some  thought  only  of  averting  the  wrath  of 
God  in  the  present,  and  so  that  strange  epidemic  of 
religious  frenzy  sprang  up,  which  brought  into  all  the 
highroads  and  market-places  of  Europe  the  ghastly 
processions  of  the  Flagellants  and  the  White  Hoods. 
Plundreds  of  either  sex  wandered  in  bands  from  town 
to  town,  half-naked,  or  clothed  in  white  shirts  spotted 
with  blood.  On  reaching  a  town  they  proceeded  to 
the  church,  and  after  a  service,  if  they  could  have  one, 
formed  into  a  circle,  in  which  they  paced  round  in  pairs 
singing  their  wild  chant : 

"  Now  raise  your  hands  to  God,  and  cry- 
That  this  great  death  may  pass  us  by  : 
Now  raise  your  arms  to  God,  and  call 
That  He  have  mercy  on  us  all.' 

They  then  adjured  the  crowd  of  spectators  to  imitate 


72  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

their  penance,  and  finally,  casting  themselves  on  the 
ground,  scourged  each  other  till  they  were  weary.  On 
their  way  from  town  to  town  they  sang  hymns  and 
sequences  in  German,  exhorting  the  people  to  repent- 
ance ;  and  it  is  certainly  a  fact  that  the  use  of  hymns 
in  the  vernacular  becomes  much  more  common  from 
this  time  onwards,  no  doubt  partly  from  their  being 
thus  introduced  into  many  parts  hitherto  unacquainted 
with  them.  The  mode  of  life  of  these  Flagellants, 
however,  led  in  some  cases  to  acts  of  license,  which 
by  degrees  turned  the  popular  feeling  strongly  against 
them,  and  so  they  vanish  from  our  sight. 

In  such  times  as  these  it  must  have  been  difficult 
for  men  not  to  be  either  fanatics,  like  these  poor 
Flagellants,  or  altogether  indifferent  to  the  religion 
which  presented  itself  in  such  a  shape  as  it  wore  then, 
when  rival  Popes  disputed  the  Headship  of  Christen- 
dom, and  the  Papacy  appeared  as  the  enemy  of  civil 
authority  and  political  liberty  ;  while  the  bishops  and 
most  of  the  richer  monastic  clergy  lived  lives  of  self- 
indulgence  and  worldly  ambition.  But,  like  the 
remnant  in  old  days  that  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to 
Baal,  so  now  there  grew  up  in  various  parts  of  the 
country  a  set  of  men  who  formed  themselves  into  no 
sect,  but  who  kept  alive  the  flame  of  love  and  faith 
and  hope  in  many  hearts  where  it  had  else  died  out. 
The  names  best  known  to  us  (though  many  others 
are  still  preserved)  are  those  of  Eckhardt  and  Tauler, 
especially  the  latter,  and  in  the  next  century  the  same 
tone  of  thought  and  piety  meets  us  again  in  the  works 
attributed  to  the  more  famous  Thomas  4  Kempis. 
Tauler  was  a  Dominican  monk  of  Strasburg,  a  man 
of  the  deepest  piety,  and  of  great  courage  and  ability, 


THE  MYSTICS.  73 


whose  sermons  were  the  delight  of  Luther,  and  are 
full  of  instruction  to  us  now.  The  Dominicans  and 
Franciscans  had  for  some  time  availed  themselves  of 
the  privilege  early  granted  to  their  order  of  cele- 
brating mass  during  a  time  of  interdict,  and  had 
thus  earned  themselves  a  high  place  in  the  popular 
favour;  but  after  the  open  breach  between  the 
Emperor  and  the  Pope  in  1338,  they  too,  in  many 
instances,  refused  to  say  mass.  Tauler  was  one  of 
the  few  who  steadily  adhered  to  the  national  side  ; 
and,  believing  that  the  Pope  himself  had  no  right  to 
deny  the  guidance  and  consolations  of  religion  to  the 
people,  considered  it  his  duty  to  disregard  the  inter- 
dict. Throughout  this  period,  therefore,  and  espe- 
cially when  the  Black  Death  was  raging,  he  laboured 
assiduously,  not  only  in  Strasburg,  but  in  all  the 
great  cities  along  the  Rhine  to  Cologne ;  and  being  a 
mighty  preacher,  he  was  followed  by  grateful  crowds, 
his  sermons  were  taken  down  by  listening  friends,  and 
with  his  letters  widely  circulated  over  Germany. 

Tauler  and  those  who  thought  like  him  were  called 
Mystics,  because  they  spoke  often  of  a  mystical  or 
hidden  life  of  God  in  the  soul,  and  the  worthlessness 
of  the  creature  and  outward  things.  But  though  there 
is  much  in  their  phraseology  and  turn  of  thought 
which  belongs  to  their  age,  and  seems  at  first  alien 
to  us  now,  the  real  core  of  their  faith,  which  made 
them  of  such  help  and  use  in  their  day  and  the 
beginners  of  a  work  that  has  lasted  to  our  own,  was 
their  strong  grasp  of  the  truths,  that  an  immediate 
and  personal  relation  may  and  ought  to  exist  between 
each  individual  soul  and  the  living  God;  and  that  since 
God  is   absolute  goodness,  the  highest  welfare  and 


74  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


happiness  of  His  creatures  must  lie  in  the  voluntary 
blending  of  their  will  with  His.  Outward  helps 
had  indeed  failed  these  men  utterly,  and  so  they  fell 
back  on  that  which  no  outward  privation  could  take 
away,  the  presence  of  God  himself  in  the  heart  as 
the  ground  of  all  belief,  and  held  this  faith  with  an 
intense  realization  proportioned  to  the  difficulties  and 
discouragements  around  them.  What  seems  to  us 
morbid  and  exaggerated  in  their  depreciation  of  all 
outward  things,  and  sometimes  even  of  the  affections 
of  ordinary  life,  was  but  the  result,  partly  of  their 
being  thus  thrown  in  so  absolutely  on  their  own 
consciousness,  partly  of  their  circumstances ;  and 
when  all  this  is  eliminated,  there  remain  in  their 
writing  some  of  the  truest  piety,  and  of  the  deepest 
and  wisest  thoughts  on  the  relation  of  God  and  Christ 
to  the  human  soul,  on  the  nature  of  sin  and  of  salva- 
tion, that  we  can  meet  with  anywhere.^ 

This  school  encouraged  the  study  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  the  first  complete  German  version  of  the  Bible 
was  made  by  Matthias  of  Beheim,  as  early  as  the 
fourteenth  century.  They  also  promoted  both  preach- 
ing and  singing  in  German,  and  a  large  number  of 
mystical  and  didactic  poems  were  written  by  them. 
Tauler  himself  wrote  several,  which  were  widely  known, 
and  we  give  two  of  them  : — 

WHAT  I  MUST  DO. 

From  outward  creatures  I  must  flee, 
And  seek  heart-oneness  deep  within, 

If  I  would  draw  my  soul  to  Thee, 
O  God,  and  keep  it  pure  from  sin. 

1  The  "  Theologia  Germania "  was  long  attributed  to  Tauler,  but 
was  probably  written  by  his  friend  and  teacher,  Nicholas  of  Basle. 


THE  MYSTICS.  75 


The  senses- 1  must  all  control, 

If  I  the  Highest  Good  would  know : 

For  virtue  strive  with  all  my  soul, 
If  I  would  feel  Love's  living  glow. 

And  I  my  hasty  tongue  must  bind, 
Must  straighten  what  it's  said  amiss, 

If  I  true  peace  with  God  would  find. 
Or  ever  hope  to  reach  true  bliss. 

ONLY  JESUS. 

O  Jesu  Christ,  most  Good,  most  Fair, 
More  fragrant  than  May's  flowery  air. 
Who  Thee  within  his  soul  doth  bear 

True  cause  for  joy  hath  won  ! 
But  would  one  have  Thee  in  his  heart 
From  all  self-will  he  must  depart, 
God's  bidding  only,  where  Thou  art. 

Must  evermore  be  done. 
Where  Jesus  thus  doth  truly  dwell. 
His  presence  doth  all  tumults  quell, 
And  transient  cares  of  earth  dispel 

Like  mists  before  the  sun. 

He  who  despiseth  vanity, 
And  dwells  in  free  simplicity, 
So  Jesus  in  his  heart  may  be, 

No  vexing  cares  need  know. 
His  comforter  the  Saviour  is, 
Sole  Comfort  of  the  comfortless  ; 
A  cross  unstained  and  bright  is  his 

Whose  patience  conquers  woe. 
Have  inward  oneness.  Faith's  clear  sight 
Bid  all  distracting  forms  take  flight, 
Gaze  on  Christ's  image  day  and  night, 

Then  He  is  thine  below. 


76  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Give  place  to  nought  that  can  misguide, 
Be  thine  own  self  whate'er  betide, 
What  is  not  thine  cast  thou  aside, 

So  shalt  thou  freely  stand. 
From  hasty  judgment,  oh  refrain, 
We  weigh  in  balance  false  and  vain; 
Christ  and  His  love  seek  thou  amain 

In  all  that  thou  hast  planned  : 
He  who  doth  undertake  too  much, 
The  goal  of  Truth  will  rarely  touch ; 
A  ship  o'erdone  with  sail  is  such. 

That  scarce  shall  reach  the  land. 

But  he  who  this  world's  solace  leaves, 
Whose  heart  to  God  in  secret  cleaves. 
And  all  things  as  from  Him  receives, 

Shall  find  his  griefs  are  o'er; 
He  who  hath  conquered  in  the  fight, 
Serves  Christ  alone  with  all  his  might, 
And  follows  where  Christ  leads  aright, 

Hath  a  bright  crown  in  store. 
God  help  us  then  to  reach  that  bliss 
Christ  hath  prepared  above  for  His  ! 
Thee,  Triune  God,  we  praise  and  bless. 

Oh  help  us  evermore  ! 

During  the  remainder  of  this  century  and  the  next, 
the  political  and  social  conditions  of  Germany  became 
more  tranquil  as  the  constitution  of  the  empire 
became  more  fixed.  In  the  cities  especially  life 
grew  settled  and  sheltered  ;  it  crystallized  indeed 
into  very  rigid  forms,  in  their  internal  polities  and 
in  the  guilds  which  governed  that  large  part  of  life 
occupied  by  industrial  interests  ;  even  the  domain  of 
private  life  was  invaded  by  the  sumptuary  laws  which 


THE  MASTER-SINGERS.  77 

regulated  the  dress  and  the  table  of  each  class,  but 
were  probably  never  very  strictly  obeyed.     But  the 
sense   of    being    a  member    of    an    important    and 
politically  free  community  made  up  for  the  loss  of 
much  of  that  personal  liberty  of  action  which  the 
Teutonic  race  had  so  highly  valued  ;  and  the  activity 
of  mind  produced  by  constant  association  with  their 
fellow-men,  rendered  the  citizens  now  the  great  patrons 
of  art  and  letters.     Town  schools  became  usual,  and 
before  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  as  many  as 
eight  great  universities  had  been  founded.     And  so, 
too,  poetry  now  passed  into  their  hands  from  those 
of  the  knightly  order.     It  did  not  at  first  profit  by 
the  change.      It  v/as  enrolled  among  the   crafts   of 
which  the  guilds  had  the  control,  schools  for  verse 
and    song-making    were    set    up,    and    the    Minne- 
singers   were     succeeded     by     the     Master-singers. 
For   the    most    part    it   was    but    poor   mechanical 
work    that   they   turned   out,   generally   moral    and 
didactic,   often   directly  religious  in   tone,   but  very 
prosaic   in   quality.      Yet   there   must  have   been  a 
great   deal   of  reading  and    reciting  of  this  poetry 
such  as  it  was,  for  the  Master-singers  are  counted  by 
hundreds,  and    their    verses    by  thousands.     By   far 
the  best  of  them  are  the  first  and  last  (of  any  note) 
in  their  ranks, — Heinrich  Frauenlob  and  Hans  Sachs. 
The  latter  belongs  to  the  period  of  the  Reformation, 
and   marks  the  transition  to  modern  thought ;    the 
former   (1250 — 13 18)    belongs   to   the    close    of   the 
crusading   age,  and  marks  the  transition  of  poetry 
from  the  knightly  to  the  burgher  order.     In  spirit 
and   form   he  belongs  to  the  Minne-singers,  and  is 
frequently  counted    among    them ;    he    is   reckoned 


78  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

among  the  Master-singers  because  he  was  the  first 
to  found  a  sort  of  guild  of  poets.  He  was  a  very 
voluminous  writer,  greatly  admired  in  his  own  day, 
and  from  his  constant  praise  of  women  won  for 
himself  the  title  of  Frauenlob  (Praise-the-ladies), 
and  the  honour  of  being  borne  to  his  grave  by  them. 
A  very  large  proportion  of  his  poems  are  love-songs, 
but  there  are  many  more  serious ;  many  prayers  and 
pious  reflections,  many  lamentations  over  the  degene- 
racy of  the  times,  and  praises  of  Brother  Berthold,  a 
famous  Franciscan  preacher,  who  travelled  about  the 
country,  heard  gladly  by  the  common  people,  and 
was  a  sort  of  forerunner  of  Tauler.  From  his  reli- 
gious poems  we  choose  two,  one  evidently  written 
when  he  was  fighting  with  the  fear  of  death ;  the 
other  expressing  the  confidence  that  helped  him 
through  it.  In  style  Frauenlob  is  graceful  and 
fluent,  but  often  too  prolix  and  elaborate.  The 
mode  in  which  the  following  is  rhymed  is  an  instance 
of  his  love  of  an  intricate  arrangement  of  rhymes. 

DEATH  WILL  CONQUER. 

My  joy  is  wholly  banished, 
Now  listen  to  my  sad  complaint : 

The  sins  of  days  departed 
Weigh  on  me  sore  and  I  wax  faint, 
For  they  are  many  well  I  know, 
And  now  dark  Death  will  bring  me  all  to  nought. 

My  life  will  soon  have  vanished, 
For  bitter  Death  my  end  hath  sworn, 

My  gifts,  my  prayers  sad-hearted. 
On  him  they  are  but  all  forlorn, 
When  once  he  bids  me  with  him  go  : 
Ah  woful  prospect  with  sore  sorrow  fraught ! 


THE  MASTER-SINGERS.  79 

Now  nought  avails  a  generous  mind, 
Nor  skill,  nor  art,  nor  aught  of  pride, 

Nor  that  all  dames  to  me  were  kind : 
AU  gifts  and  powers  of  heart  and  sense 

That  once  were  mine  are  lost  to  me; 

I  must  seek  other  company, 
Death  is  my  fellow,  and  he  drives  me  hence. 

Grim  Death  the  end  is  bringing 
Of  joy  to  this  poor  heart  in  me; 

Ah  sorely  doth  he  grieve  it ! 
O  Lord  my  God,  I  cry  to  Thee, 
Receive  my  soul  for  pity's  sake ; 
My  body  to  the  earth  and  worms  I  give. 

My  lovely  art,  my  singing, 
Grows  dim  within  my  bosom's  shrine; 

To  whom  shall  I  now  leave  it  ? 
Ah  God,  it  will  no  more  be  mine  ! 
'Twas  Thou  didst  give  it,  who  dost  take. 
Grant  me  Thy  mercy  now  while  yet  I  live! 

Yes,  I  have  done  with  sweetest  song, 
This  is  the  last,  my  sad  complaint, 

Death  comes  and  brings  a  silence  long  : 
Then  list  to  me,  my  fellows  all, 

Women  and  men  alike,  I  mean. 

None  can  say  aught  'gainst  this,  I  ween, 
See  that  from  righteousness  ye  never  fall. 

O  Mary,  Mother  purest. 
Now  through  the  death  of  thy  dear  Son 

Remember  all  thy  kindness. 
And  all  that  He  for  us  hath  won 
Upon  the  cross,  where  once  was 'seen 
A  sharp  spear  bent  against  His  holy  side. 

Lord  Christ !  Thou  this  endurest 
And  yet  Thou  canst  the  Jew  forgive. 

For  it  was  done  in  blindness  ! 


8o  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


Pray  Thou  for  me  too  then,  while  yet  I  live, 
Thou  wilt  be  not  less  good  to  me,  I  ween; 
Show  Thy  dear  grace  to  me  at  this  sad  tide. 

Farewell  to  all  that  glads  mine  eyes  ! 
Now,  Death,  dost  thou  thy  work  begin ; 

Lend  me,  ye  (friends,  your  tears  and  sighs, 
And  be  not  Fxaixenlob  forgot. 

Whom  Deatli,  alas  !  hath  conquered  here  ! 

Ah  God,  my  latest  hour  is  near, 

Courage,  my  heart,  and  go  :  'tis  but  the -common  lot ! 

NO  MORE  DESPAIR. 

Now  will  I  nevermore  despair  of  heaven. 
Since  it  is  Thine,  my  Father,  who  hast  given 
Thy  glorious  kingdom  to  the  poor  indeed. 
Yeaj.  mighty  God,  since  Father  is  Thy  name, 
Christ  for  my  brother  I  may  dare  to  claim, 
And  He  for  all  my  sins  will  help  me  plead. 

A  brother's  truth  to  us  He  swore 
When  on  Himself  He  took  humanity, 

For  us  alone  that  form  He  wore. 
For  us  alone  hung  high  upon  the  Tree. 
Look  in  what  cruel  sorrows  there  He  pined.! 
Dear  Lord,  I  bid  thee  call  those  woes  to  mind. 
And,  brother-hke,  entreat  Thy  Father,  who  is  mine, 
To  give  me,  too,  my  lot  in  that  blest  heritage  of  Thine. 

It  was  at  this  time  tTiat  dramatic  poetry  made  its 
appearance  in  Germany ;  and  just  as  lyrical  and 
narrative  poetry  had  first  been  awakened  to  life  by 
the  religious  sentiment  which  thus  made  for  itself  a 
voice,  so  our  earliest  examples  of  this  style  also 
are  religious — the  mystery  and  morality  plays.  It 
is  curious  that  the  first  beginning  of  the  drama  should 


THE  DRAMA.  8 1 


be  in  a  convent,  and  the  work  of  a  nun,  a  certain  Hros- 
vitha,  who  hved  in  the  Abbey  of  Gandersheim,  about 
980.  Her  works,  however,  hardly  concern  our  subject, 
as  they  were  written  in  Latin,  though  one  of  them  was 
afterwards  translated  into  German  for  performance  ; 
and  we  do  not  encounter  any  further  dramatic  at- 
tempts till  we  reach  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries,  when  we  meet  with  mysteries  on  the  life 
of  our  Lord.  No  doubt  these  took  their  rise  in  the 
wish  to  set  vividly  before  the  people  the  chief  in- 
cidents of  Scripture  history,  and  the  mode  of  doing 
so  is  by  some  thought  to  have  been  derived  from 
the  symbolical  games  which  ushered  in  the  spring, 
or  from  the  processions  of  returning  crusaders,  who 
often  re-entered  their  homes  in  quaint  and  symbolical 
array.  The  Passion  and  Resurrection  and  the 
Lamentation  of  the  Virgin  form  the  subjects  of  the 
earliest  mysteries,  and  to  these  ere  long  were  added 
similar  representations  of  scenes  from  the  infancy  of 
the  Saviour,  which  were  performed  about  Twelfth 
Night.  At  first  they  were  written  partly  in  Latin 
and  partly  in  German,  and  a  considerable  portion 
consisted  of  action  unaccompanied  by  words,  while 
other  parts  were  sung,  not  recited,  but  gradually 
the  German  element  preponderates  and  the  Latin 
disappears.  Scenes  from  the  Old  Testament  or  the 
Apocrypha,  which  were  held  to  typify  events  in  our 
Lord's  life,  were  introduced  between  the  acts  of  the 
principal  drama,  and  from  the  necessity  of  compression 
were  generally  given  in  a  more  vigorous  and  dramatic 
form  than  the  original  piece  itself,  which  is  often 
extremely  prolix.  The  stories  of  Joseph  and 
Samson,  of  David  and  Goliath,  of  Esther,  of  Susannah 

S.L.  VI.  G 


82  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

and  the  Elders,  were  the  favourite  subjects  of  these 
entr'actes.  Next  the  comic  element  found  its  way 
into  these  pieces,  especially  into  those  which  were 
performed  about  Twelfth  Night,  a  time  of  merry- 
making and  often  of  licence.  The  first  example 
of  it,  however,  that  is  now  extant,  is  in  an  Easter 
mystery  of  the  fifteenth  century,  where  the  merchant 
who  sells  precious  ointment,  first  to  Mary  Mag- 
dalene, and  afterwards  to  the  three  Maries  on  their 
way  to  the  grave,  quarrels  with  his  servant  and  his 
wife,  and  ends  with  striking  the  latter,  who  repays 
him  by  a  sound  rating.  This  element  of  grotesque 
fun  afterwards  became  much  more  developed,  but  it 
never  in  Germany  attained  anything  like  the  propor- 
tions that  it  assumed  in  France  and  Italy.  On  the 
whole  the  representation  of  these  dramas  was  a 
serious,  and  in  its  way  a  religious,  act.  A  city  or 
a  village,  or  perhaps  some  great  guild,  or  the 
students  of  a  university,  undertook  to  give  one  of 
these  mysteries.  The  performance,  in  the  summer, 
frequently  took  place  out  of  doors,  in  the  winter,  in 
the  church  or  the  guild-hall  ;  it  often  lasted  for  more 
than  one  day,  and  people  came  to  see  it  from  far 
and  near.  The  performers  who  personated  such 
characters  as  those  of  our  Lord,  His  mother,  or  His 
disciples,  were  expected  to  prepare  themselves  by 
religious  acts  for  their  work,  and  to  abstain  from  all 
licence  while  it  was  in  progress.  Of  course  a  more 
secular  tendency  gradually  showed  itself;  still  on  the 
whole  the  drama  was  a  plant  of  veiy  late  growth  in 
Germany,  and  i't  was  long  before  it  attained  as  much 
importance  in  its  purely  secular  shape  as  it  possessed 
in   the    Middle    Ages    in    its    religious    form.      The 


THE  POPULAR  SONG. 


mystery  has  never  quite  died  out  there  ;  many  of 
us  are  probably  aware  that  once  in  ten  years  a 
genuine  ancient  mystery  is  still  performed  in  a  little 
village  of  the  Bavarian  Tyrol. 

Another  style  of  poetry  sprang  up  in  these  cen- 
turies which  had  the  most  genuine  life  in  it  of  any 
type  that  we  have  yet  met  with,  and  that  has  con^ 
tinued  characteristic  of  the  German  people  to  this 
day.  It  is  that  of  the  "  Volkslied,"  or  popular  song, 
and  in  these  far-back  days  it  holds  somewhat  the  same 
place  in  German  literature  that  the  ballad  does  in  our 
own.  The  narrative  form  of  the  ballad  seems  to  have 
been  less  congenial  to  the  German  mind  than  to  the 
English.  We  find,  indeed,  some  poems  on  contem- 
porary events — like  that  on  the  Battle  of  Sempach, 
by  Halbsuten — but  they  are  wanting  in  the  life,  terse- 
ness, and  swing  of  the  ballad.  The  German  popular 
song,  on  the  other  hand,  even  in  its  rudest  days,  is 
full  of  freshness  and  vigour,  often  of  sweetness  and 
pathos,  though  lax  and  unpolished  in  form  and 
marked  by  abrupt  transitions  and  quaint  similes. 
But  it  has  the  true  breath  of  the  people's  life  in  it, 
which  it  deals  with  in  its  most  varied  forms — in  songs 
of  love,  of  dancing,  of  drinking,  of  wandering  and 
parting,  of  spinning  and  weaving,  and  of  the  huntsman's 
and  forester's  crafts,  which  are  some  of  the  best  of 
all.  It  furnished  the  type  that,  in  Luther's  hands, 
was  refined  and  strengthened  into  the  congregational 
hymn  which  became  so  powerful  an  instrument  in 
the  spread  of  the  reformed  religion  ;  and  at  this 
period  the  best  of  its  sacred  poems  are  those  which 
more  or  less  partake  of  this  character. 

It  was  natural  that  poetry  of  this  simple  and  direct 

G  2 


84  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

style  should  concern  itself  more  with  the  great  facts 
of  the  Christian  faith  than  with  the  minor  phases  of 
spiritual  experience ;  and,  accordingly,  we  find  most 
of  the  poems  of  this  kind  are  composed  for  one  or 
other  of  the  chief  festivals  of  the  Church.  That  of 
Christmas  was  an  especial  favourite  with  the  warm- 
hearted, child-loving  Germans,  and  for  it  Tauler 
wrote  the  following  symbolical  little  poem,  which 
soon  became  one  of  these  popular  songs  : — 

CHRISTMAS  CAROL. 

A  ship  comes  sailing  onwards 
With  a  precious  freight  on  board ; 

It  bears  the  only  Son  of  God, 
It  bears  the  Eternal  Word. 

A  precious  freight  it  brings  us, 

Glides  gently  on,  yet  fast ; 
Its  sails  are  filled  with  Holy  Love, 

The  Spirit  is  its  mast. 

And  now  it  casteth  anchor, 

The  ship  hath  touched  the  land  ; 

God's  Word  hath  taken  flesh,  the  Son 
Among  us  men  doth  stand. 

At  Bethlehem,  in  the  manger, 

He  lies,  a  babe  of  days  ; 
For  us  He  gives  Himself  to  death, 

O  give  Him  thanks  and  praise. 

Whoe'er  would  hope  in  gladness 

To  kiss  this  Holy  Child, 
Must  suffer  many  a  pain  and  woe 

Patient  like  Him  and  mild  ; 


THE  POPULAR  SONG.  Zt, 


Must  die  with  Him  to  evil 

And  rise  to  righteousness, 
That  so  with  Christ  he  too  may  share 

Eternal  life  and  bliss. 

Another  Christmas  carol  of  this  date  is  the  following  on 

THE  ROSE  OF  SHARON. 

A  spotless  Rose  is  blowing, 

Sprung  from  a  tender  root, 
Of  ancient  seers'  foreshowing, 

Of  Jesse  promised  fruit ; 
Its  fairest  bud  unfolds  to  light 

Amid  the  cold,  cold  winter. 
And  in  the  dark  midnight. 

The  Rose  which  I  am  singing. 

Whereof  Isaiah  said. 
Is  from  its  sweet  root  springing 

In  Mary,  purest  Maid ; 
For  through  our  God's  great  love  and  mfghf 

The  Blessed  Babe  she  bare  us 
In  a  cold,  cold  winter's  night 

A  favourite  song,  or  we  might  almost  call  it  a  ballad 
for  Easter,  was  this  one  : — 

THE  THREE  MARIES. 

There  went  three  damsels  ere  break  of  day, 
To  the  Holy  Grave  they  took  their  way; 
They  fain  would  anoint  the  Lord  once  more 
As  Mary  Magdalene  did  before.  Alleluia. 

The  damsels  each  to  other  made  moan, 
"  Who  will  roll  us  away  the  stone. 
That  we  may  enter  in  amain 
To  anoint  the  Lord  as  we  are  fain  ?  " 


86  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


Full  precious  spices  and  salve  they  brought, 
But  when  they  came  to  the  spot  they  sought, 
Behold  the  grave  doth  open  stand. 
An  angel  sitteth  on  either  hand. 

"  Ye  maidens,  be  not  filled  with  fear, 
He  whom  ye  seek,  He  is  not  here ; 
Behold  the  raiment  white  and  fair 
Which  the  Lord  was  wrapped  in,  lieth  there. 

"  Ye  maidens,  do  not  here  delay, 

Ye  must  to  Galilee  away ; 

To  Galilee  ye  now  must  go. 

For  there  the  Lord  Himself  will  show." 

But  Mary  Magdalene  could  not  depart, 
Seeking  the  Lord,  she  wept  apart ; 
What  saw  she  in  a  little  while  ? 
She  saw  our  Lord  upon  her  smile. 

In  garb  and  wise  He  met  her  there 
As  were  He  a  gardener,  and  did  bear 
A  spade  within  His  holy  hand. 
As  would  He  dig  the  garden  land. 

"  O  tell  me,  gentle  Gardener  thou. 
Where  hast  thou  laid  my  Master  now  ? 
Where  thou  hast  hidden  Him  bid  me  know. 
Or  my  heart  must  break  beneath  its  woe." 

Scarce  could  He  speak  a  single  word, 
Ere  she  beheld  it  was  the  Lord  ; 
She  kneeleth  down  on  the  cold  bare  stone, 
She  hath  found  her  Lord  and  she  alone. 

"  Touch  me  not,  Mary  Magdalene, 

But  tell  the  brethren  what  thou  hast  seen ; 

Touch  me  not  now  with  human  hand. 

Until  I  ascend  to  my  Father's  land."     Alleluia. 


EASTER  SEQUENCE.  87 

The  Easter  and  Whitsuntide  sequences  which  were 
introduced  in  the  previous  period  were  now  expanded 
into  longer  hymns,  of  which  many  variations  are  still 
preserv^ed.     One  of  the  best  is  this : — 

AN  OLD  EASTER  HYMN. 

Rejoice,  dear  Christendom,  to-day. 

For  Christ  hath  overcome, 
His  bitter  pains  have  passed  away, 

And  empty  stands  His  tomb ; 

Those  bitter  pains  had  been  our  lot, 

If  Christ  for  us  had  borne  them  not, 
Great  bliss  hath  risen  on  us  to-day  : 

Alleluia. 

O  Easter  Day,  our  voices  ne'er 

Can  praise  thee  fittingly. 
Since  God,  whose  power  all  things  declare. 

Such  glory  puts  on  thee  ; 

But  let  us  keep  thee  as  we  can, 

Angels  to-day  rejoice  with  man. 
When  rose  that  Sun  so  wondrous  fair : 

Alleluia. 

O  J«sus  Christ,  our  blessed  Lord, 

We  share  Thy  joy  to-day  ! 
All  those  who  hear  and  keep  Thy  "yVord 

Are  glad  with  Thee  to-day  ! 

All  Christian  people  now  rejoice 

With  freshened  hearts  and  gladsome  voice, 
Glory  to  Thee  our  Blessed  Lord : 

Alleluia. 

Praise  to  the  Father  and  the  Son, 
And  to  the  Holy  Ghost ; 


88  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

For  all  the  sins  that  we  have  done, 

To-day  forgive  us  most ; 

And  give  us  peace  and  unity, 

From  now  to  all  eternity, 
So  sing  we  as  the  ages  run  : 

Alleluia. 

A  sequence  found  about  the  same  date  is  called  in 
old  manuscripts 

THE  COMMON  MAN'S  PROCESSIONAL. 

So  holy  is  this  day  of  days 

No  man  can  fill  its  meed  of  praise, 

Since  the  Holy  Son  of  God 
Now  hath  conquered  Death  and  Hell, 
And  bound  the  Devil  who  there  doth  dwell, 

So  hath  the  Lord  delivered  Christendom  ; 
This  was  Christ  Himself : 

Kyrie  Eleison  ! 

We  have  a  testimony  to  the  use  of  Easter  hymns 
in  church  in  the  following  poem  by  Conrad  von 
Queinfurt,  belonging  to  the  fourteenth  century  (he 
died  in  1382  in  Silesia),  which  is  quite  in  the  style  of 
the  Minne-singers  both  in  thought  and  the  carefully 
varied  metre. 

EASTER  SONG. 

Fair  Spring,  thou  dearest  season  of  the  year. 

Thou  art  brimful  of  sweet  delights ; 
The  creatures  robbed  of  joy  by  winter  drear 
Thou  dost  repay  for  cold  and  gloomy  nights. 
I  feel  thy  airs  are  soft  and  mild, 
Thy  winds  are  balmy  and  not  wild. 


EASTER  SONG.  89 


O  how  unlike  the  wintry  blast ! 
What  Frost  had  bound  in  fetters  fast, 
Now  feels  the  prison-time  gone  by, 

For  'tis  unbound  and  free  ; 
Whether  it  climb  or  swim  or  fly, 

Whatever  kind  it  be, 
Whether  of  water,  earth,  or  sky, 
'Tis  happy  now  we  see. 
The  sun  smiles  with  his  lovely  rays, 
And  sing,  dear  little  birds,  sing  out  your  Maker's  praise  ! 

So  many  joys  hath  Spring,  but  most  of  all 

She  hath  one  day  above  the  rest, 
That  Christendom  with  one  glad  voice  doth  call 
Of  all  bright  days  the  first  and  best 
We  hail  thee,  then,  O  chosen  Day, 
With  many  a  loud  and  gladsome  lay, 
Thou  art  the  day  that  God  hath  made, 
Well  may  our  joy  be  now  displayed  ! 
Thou  art  the  Pascha  to  the  Greek, 

And  still  we  hear  the  Jew 
Of  thee  as  Passover  doth  speak, 

And  Latins  know  thee  too 
As  Transitus,  that  crowns  the  Holy  Week  ; 
But  thou,  where'er  is  heard  the  German  tongue, 
Art  holy  Easter-tide,  when  life  from  Death  hath  sprung. 

We  hail  thee,  blessed  Day,  we  greet  thee  well, 

We  praise  thee  ever,  we  adore 
The  Christ  who  triumphed  over  death  and  hell, 
Whose  death  slew  Death  for  evermore. 
O  sweetest  day,  that  saw'st  Thee  rise, 
Our  Paschal  Lamb,  our  Sacrifice, 
Our  Brother  who  hath  won  for  us 
A  heritage  most  glorious  ! 


90  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Forest  and  foliage,  corn  and  grass  and  flowers, 

Would  show  their  love  to  Thee  ! 
The  birds  sing  in  the  greening  bowers, 

Christ,  they  are  praising  Thee  ! 
Thou  wouldst  not  lack,  had  they  our  powers, 
A  song  more  worthy  Thee  ! 
For  Thou  art  Conqueror,  O  Christ,  to-day, 
Who  madest  Death's  great  power  itself  give  way. 
«  -;:-  «-  -::•  %  * 

So  Christians  triumph  as  your  heart  desires  ; 

In  chorus  sweet  and  clear  and  strong, 
Ye  laymen  in  the  church,  ye  priests  in  choirs. 
Answer  each  other  in  your  song. 

Sing,  "  Christ  the  Lord  is  risen  again, 
Christ  hath  broken  every  chain." 
The  year  of  jubilee  He  bringeth  in, 
True  freedom  for  all  faithful  hearts  to  win  ; 
So  to  His  table  go  thou  solemnly. 

Where  in  His  flesh  and  blood 
The  Paschal  Lamb  itself  is  offered  thee — 

The  Lamb  slain  on  the  rood. 
Praise  the  true  Christ  with  happy  hearts  and  free. 
Praise  Him,  for  He  is  good  ! 
Thus,  Spring,  thou  well  may'st  speak  of  joy  to  man, 
Thou  hast  the  Easter  Day  that  ended  Death's  dark  ban. 

Many  also  of  the  popular  songs  were  translated,  if 
one  may  so  call  it,  into  a  religious  form,  often  in  the 
most  tasteless  and  absurd  manner,  but  occasionally 
with  so  much  success,  that  the  religious  entirely  super- 
seded the  secular  version.  This  was  the  case  with 
the  following  little  hymn,  the  idea  of  which  was  taken 
from  the  song  of  a  wandering  artisan,  that  begins, 
"Innsbruck,    I    must    forsake  thee."      In  its  sacred' 


HENRY  OF  LOUFENBURG.  91 


form,  however,  it  speedily  became  very  popular,  and 
many  other  hymns  were  afterwards  written  on  its 
simple  and  pathetic  melody. 

FAREWELL. 

0  World,  I  must  forsake  thee, 
And  far  away  betake  me, 

To  seek  my  native  shore ; 
So  long  I've  dwelt  in  sadness 

1  wish  not  now  for  gladness, 
Earth's  joys  for  me  are  o'er. 

Sore  is  my  grief  and  lonely. 
And  I  can  tell  it  only 

To  Thee,  my  Friend  most  sure ! 
God,  let  Thy  hand  uphold  me. 
Thy  pitying  heart  enfold  me. 

For  else  I  am  most  poor. 

My  Refuge  where  I  hide  me, 
From  Thee  shall  nought  divide  me, 

No  pain,  no  poverty  : 
Nought  is  too  bad  to  bear  it. 
If  Thou  art  there  to  share  it ; 

My  heart  asks  only  Thee. 

Henry  of  Loufenburg,  who  was  a  priest  at  Freiburg, 
and  afterwards  a  monk  in  the  convent  of  St.  John  in 
Strasburg,  was  the  chief  sacred  poet  of  the  fifteenth 
century  in  Germany,  and  furnished  a  large  number  of 
these  transformations  of  secular  into  religious  songs, 
and  he  also  translated  many  of  the  great  Latin 
hymns.  He  was  himself  a  fertile  composer,  and  some 
of  his  hymns  are  very  graceful  and  sweet,  but  many 


92  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

are  prolix  and  fantastic  ;  and  though  they  seem  to 
have  been  Uked  in  the  rehgious  world  of  his  own 
day,  they  scarcely  bear  transplanting  to  ours.  One 
of  the  best  is 

HOME-SICKNESS. 

I  would  I  were  at  last  at  home, 
And  all  eardi's  trials  overcome  : 

At  home  in  that  calm,  happy  place 
Where  I  shall  see  God  face  to  face  ! 

Then  thither,  Heart,  for  refuge  flee, 
Where  angel-hosts  are  waiting  thee. 

If  earth  for  thee  be  only  gloom, 
Thou  wilt  but  get  the  sooner  home. 

At  home  is  Life  that  never  dies. 
And  perfect  joy  unmixed  with  sighs  ; 

Arid  perfect  health,  untouched  by  pain, 
That  perfect  ever  shall  remain. 

A  thousand  years  are  as  a  day. 
For  weariness  hath  there  no  sway. 

Rise  thither,  heart  and  soul  of  mine, 
And  seek  that  blessedness  divine. 

The  treasure  that  is  stored  not  there 
Will  only  bring  thee  woe  and  care. 

Thou  hast  no  resting-place  below, 
To-day,  to-morrow,  thou  may'st  go. 
Then  since  it  may  not  other  be. 
From  earth's  deluding  phantoms  flee  : 

Repent  thy  sins,  prepare  for  home, 
To-morrow  may  the  Voice  say,  Come. 

Farewell,  O  World,  now  home  I  fare ; 
God  guide  all  true  hearts  safely  there  ! 


HENRY  OF  LOUFENBURG.  93 

Another   tenderly-conceived  little   poem  of  his    is 
this  :— 

CRADLE  SONG. 

Ah  Jesu  Christ,  my  Lord  most  dear, 

As  Thou  wast  once  an  infant  here, 

So  give  this  little  child,  I  pray. 

Thy  grace  and  blessing  day  by  day  r 
Ah  Jesu,  Lord  Divine, 
Guard  me  this  babe  of  mine  ! 

Since  in  Thy  heavenly  kingdom,  Lord, 
All  things  obey  Thy  lightest  word, 
Do  Thou  Thy  mighty  succour  give. 
And  shield  my  child  by  morn  and  eve : 
Ah  Jesu,  Lord  Divine, 
Guard  Thou  this  babe  of  mine  ! 
Thy  watch  let  angels  round  it  keep 
Where'er  it  be,  awake,  asleep  ; 
Thy  holy  Cross  now  let  it  bear 
That  it  Thy  Crown  with  saints  may  wear : 
Ah  Jesu,  Lord  Divine, 
Guard  Thou  this  babe  of  mine  ! 

Now  sleep,  O  sleep,  my  little  child, 

Jesus  will  be  thy  playmate  mild  ; 

Sweet  dreams  He  sendeth  thee,  I  trow, 

That  full  of  goodness  thou  may'st  grow  : 
Ah  Jesu,  Lord  Divine, 
Guard  me  this  babe  of  mine ! 

So  He  who  hath  all  love  and  might. 
Bids  thee  good-morrow  and  good-night 
Blest  in  His  name  thou  daily  art. 
My  child,  thou  darling  of  my  heart : 
Ah  Jesu,  Lord  Divine, 
Guard  me  this  babe  of  mine  I 


94 


CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


Henry  of  Loufenburg  also  wrote  and  widely  in- 
troduced the  use  of  many  hymns  in  mixed  Latin 
and  German.  Verses  of  this  kind  had  long  been  a 
favourite  amusement  among  the  monks,  and  they 
seem  now  to  have  acquired  a  general  popularity.  The 
best-known  of  them  all  was  a  Christmas  carol  dating 
from  the  fourteenth  century,  which  is  found  in  many 
various  versions,  and  of  which  the  following  is  an 
imitation  : — 

CAROL. 


///  dulci Juh'do 

Sing  and  shout  all  beloAv  ! 

He  for  whom  we're  pining 

Lies  in  prasepio  ; 

Like  the  sun  is  shining 

Matris  in  gremio. 

Qui  est  A  et  O. 

Qui  est  A  et  O. 

O  Jesu  parvule, 

How  my  heart  longs  for  thee  ! 

Soothe  the  sad  and  ailing, 

O  Puer  optivie, 

AVith  Thy  love  unfailing  ! 

O  Princeps  glorice, 

Trahe  me  post  Te, 

Trahe  fne  post  Te  f 

Mater  etjilia, 

O  Mary,  virgin  aye, 

Hadst  thou  not  gained  for  us 

Coelontm  gaudia, 

Death  still  had  reigned  o'er  us 

Per  nostra  crimina. 

Quanta  gratia  ! 

Quanta  gratia  ! 


In  sii'cd  Joy 


In  a  inavzcr 


In  His  inothers  lap. 
JVAo  is  Alpha  and  Omega, 

O  infant  yesus. 


Child  most  excellent, 

O  Prince  of  glory. 
Draw  me  after  77iee.' 

Mother  and  dauzhter. 


The  joys  of  heaven. 

For  our  sins. 
How  great  the  grace  ! 


EARLIEST  HYMN-BOOKS.  95 


Ubi  sunt  gaudia  ?  Where  are  those  Joys  ? 

Only  there  where  alway 

Stand  the  angels  singing 

Nova  cantica,  -Vhc  songs. 

Their  sweet  voices  ringing 

In  regis  curia.  In  the  King's  court. 

Would  we  were  there  to-day  ! 

Would  we  were  there  to-day  I 

This  latter  class  of  mixed  hymns  has  been  com- 
monly, but  erroneously,  attributed  to  Peter  Dres- 
dcnsis,  who  died  in  1440,  as  rector  of  Zwickau.  His 
real  work  with  regard  to  hymnology  lay  in  the  stre- 
nuous efforts  he  made  to  introduce  hymns  in  the 
vernacular  more  freely  into  public  worship,  especially 
into  the  service  of  the  mass.  No  doubt  he  had  been 
led  to  this  by  his  acquaintance  with  Huss,  whose 
assistant  he  had  been  at  Prague.  It  was  in  1467  that 
the  followers  of  Huss  formed  themselves  into  a  sepa- 
rate and  organized  Church,  known  as  that  of  the  Bohe- 
mian and  Moravian  Brethren,  one  of  the  distinctive 
peculiarities  of  which  was  the  free  use  of  hymns 
and  prayers  in  their  mother  tongue.  Many  such 
hymns  were  already  in  existence,  and  others  were 
soon  written,  and  in  1504  they  were  collected  and  pub- 
lished by  their  archbishop,  Lucas— the  first  example 
of  a  hymn-book  composed  of  original  compositions  in 
the  vernacular  to  be  found  in  any  Western  nation 
which  had  once  owned  the  supremacy  of  Rome. 
Somewhat  earlier  than  this  book,  however,  towards 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  we  find  two  or 
three  collections  of  German  versions  of  the  Latin 
hymns  and  sequences.  For  the  most  part  they 
arc  of  such  inferior  merit  that  they  quite  lose  the 


96  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

grandeur  of  the  original,  and  so  we  need  not  linger 
over  them. 

But  there  is  one  large  class  of  sacred  poems  very- 
characteristic  of  the  mediaeval  period,  which  has  not 
yet  been  mentioned — the  poems  addressed  to  saints, 
and,  above  all,  to  the  Virgin  Mary.  The  former  class 
is  not  very  important,  either  as  to  number  or  quality; 
but  not  so  the  latter.  "  Marien-lieder,"  and,  in  a 
minor  degree,  "  Annen-lieder,"  hymns  to  St.  Mary 
and  to  St.  Anne,  constitute  a  very  large  and  well- 
known  class  among  the  poems  of  the  ante-Reformation 
times  in  Germany.  It  is  in  the  age  of  the  Crusades 
and  the  Minne-singers  that  they  first  assume  a  pro- 
minent place  in  its  literature.  The  intercourse  of 
Christians  with  Saracens  tended  to  intensify  the  devo- 
tion paid  to  the  Virgin,  just  because  such  a  sentiment 
towards  a  woman  was  a  most  distinctive  peculiarity 
of  the  Christian  mind.  Again,  the  chivalry  which 
owed  so  much  to  the  Christian  idea  of  woman- 
hood, had  in  its  turn  a  reflex  action  on  religious 
thought,  favourable  to  the  worship  of  a  feminine 
ideal.  The  hymns  addressed  to  the  Virgin  at  this 
time  form  a  sort  of  spiritual  counterpart  to  the  minne- 
songs  or  love-songs  addressed  to  his  earthly  lady  by 
the  knight.  It  was  easy  to  transfer  the  turn  of  ex- 
pression and  tone  of  thought  from  the  earthly  object 
to  the  heavenly  one,  and  the  degree  to  which  this  is 
done  is  to  us  often  very  startling.  After  this  period, 
for  a  while  these  poems  become  less  frequent,  but 
in  the  fifteenth  century  they  revive  in  the  most  extra- 
vagant forms.  The  honours  and  titles  belonging  to 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  are  attributed  to  His  mother ; 
God  is  said  to  have  created  the  world  by  her  and  to 


HYMNS  TO  THE  VIRGIN.  97 

have  rested  in  her  on  the  seventh  day  ;  she  is  said  to 
have  risen  from  the  grave  on  the  third  day  and 
ascended  into  heaven  ;  she  is  addressed,  not  only  as  a 
persuasive  mediator  with  her  Son,  but  as  herself  the 
chief  source  of  mercy  and  help,  especially  in  the  hour 
of  death  and  at  the  day  of  judgment.  By  degrees, 
her  mother  is  invested  with  some  of  her  own  attri- 
butes ;  for  it  is  said,  if  Christ  would  obey  His  own 
mother,  ought  not  she  much  more  to  obey  hers  ? 
And  so  a  set  of  hymns  to  St.  Anne  sprung  up,  in  which 
she  is  entreated  to  afford  aid  in  death,  and  obtain 
pardon  for  the  sinners  from  Christ  and  Mary,  who 
will  refuse  her  nothing.  Some  of  the  earlier  hymns 
to  the  Virgin,  especially  those  on  her  lamentation  be- 
neath the  cross,  are  very  sweet  and  touching ;  but  the 
greater  number  of  such  as  we  have  now  been  speak- 
ing of  have  not  much  poetical  merit.  They  are  often 
mere  lists  of  titles,  or  word-play  on  her  name  or  on 
the  relation  of  the  words  "  Ave "  and  "  Eva."  As 
Wackernagel  says,  "  The  existence  of  so  many  godless 
hymns  addressed  to  the  Virgin  and  the  saints,  or 
teaching  the  whole  doctrine  of  indulgences,  is  a  per- 
fectly irrefragable  testimony  to  that  degeneracy  of 
the  nation  which  rendered  the  Reformation  necessary; 
the  existence  of  so  many  breathing  an  unstained 
Christianity  is  a  witness  to  the  preservation  of  so 
much  true  religion  as  made  the  Reformation  pos- 
sible." 


s.u  VI.  H 


CHAPTER  V. 

LUTHER  AND  HIS   FRIENDS. 
A.D.  1500 — 1580. 

The  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century  marks  the  com- 
mencement of  one  of  the  great  transitional  eras  of 
history,  and  its  changes  were  not  in  one  direction  only. 
Men's  horizon  on  the  physical  earth  had  been  sud- 
denly widened  by  the  discovery  of  a  new  world  ;  their 
mental  horizon  by  the  re-discovery  of  an  old  one,  in 
the  revival  of  letters  consequent  on  the  fall  of  Con- 
stantinople and  the  invention  of  printing.  An  intel- 
lectual eagerness  and  a  trust  in  the  unbounded 
possibilities  of  the  future  had  taken  possession  of  their 
minds,  and  they  were  not  likely  to  be  satisfied  with 
such  a  present  as  they  saw  around  them.  It  was  for 
the  schools  and  universities  that  reformers  first  sprung 
up  in  Erasmus  and  Reuchlin  ;  then,  almost  at  the 
same  time,  an  Ulrich  von  Hutten  began  to  call  on 
his  countrymen  to  feel  and  to  assert  their  national 
unity  and  their  ancient  rights  against  Italian  priests 
and  Spanish  mercenaries,  and  to  reform  their  own 
lives.  His  vigorous  appeals,  expressed,  not  in  Latin, 
but  in  clear  and  trenchant  German,  made  themselves 
heard  by  all  classes,  and  helped  to  pave  the  way  for 
the   reformation   that  was   coming.      The  following 


Ulrich  vou  lhitt«i—\\  .yi. 


ULRICH  VON  HUTTEN.  99 

poem,  written  when  he  had  been  forced  to  seek  an 
asylum  in  the  castle  of  his  friend  Franz  von  Sickingen, 
was  ere  long  circulated  all  over  the  country  on  broad- 
sheets, and  became  a  favourite  song  of  the  earliest 
adherents  of  the  Reformation. 

ULRICH  VON  HUTTEN'S  SONG. 

I've  ventured  ^  it  of  purpose  free, 

Nor  yet  my  deed  I  rue ; 
I  may  not  win,  but  men  will  see 

My  heart  and  life  were  true. 
'Tis  not  my  own  I  seek  alone, 

This  they  must  know  at  least ; 
'Tis  good  of  all,  though  me  they  call 

A  foe  to  Church  and  priest. 

But  I  will  let  them  spread  their  Ues 

And  chatter  as  they  will ; 
If  I  would  but  the  truth  disguise. 

And  tongue  and  pen  keep  still, 
Flatterers  enow  were  mine,  I  trow, 

Now  I'm  a  banished  man  ; 
Yet  think  not  I  afar  to  fly, 

Time  yet  may  change  the  ban. 

But  nought  of  pardon  will  I  pray, 

For  nought  of  guilt  I  own  ; 
I  would  have  bowed  to  Justice'  sway, 

Here  Passion  reigns  alone. 
Nor  grants  my  cause  by  ancient  laws 

A  hearing  fair  and  free  ; — 
But  God  ordains  and  need  constrains 

That  thus  they  deal  with  me. 

"  Ich  habs  gewagt,"  "  I  have  ventured  it,"  was  Ilutten's  motto. 
H   2 


loo         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Yet  oft  ere  now  it  hath  been  seen 

When  rich  men  felt  secure, 
They  yet  have  lost  the  game,  I  ween, 

They  deemed  their  own  full  sure. 
A  mighty  flame  from  sparks  oft  came  ; 

Who  knows,  my  turn  may  come  ? 
I've  played  my  stake,  the  risk  I'll  take. 

And  here  abide  my  doom. 

And  'midst  it  all  my  solace  is 

A  conscience  void  of  spot ; 
My  direst  foes  must  grant  me  this, 

My  honour  hath  no  blot. 
For  there  is  nought  I've  said  or  sought, 

But  it  doth  well  appear, 
That  all  was  done  before  the  sun 

In  honour  bright  and  clear. 

Now  if  my  nation's  gallant  youth 

Will  not  my  warning  take, 
And  bravely  stand  for  Right  and  Truth, 

It  grieves  me  for  her  sake, 
I  must  depart,  with  heavy  heart ; 

Yet  deem  not  all  is  o'er, 
Come  foul  or  fair  I'll  not  despair, 

But  mix  the  cards  once  more. 

No  courtiers'  crafts  shall  me  affright, 

Though  deep  the  game  they've  played  ; 
An  honest  heart  that  loves  the  Right 

Can  never  be  dismayed. 
Full  many  a  name  will  join  the  game, 

Nor  life  nor  wealth  will  cherish  ; 
Up  !  burghers  grave,  and  horsemen  brave. 

And  let  not  Hutten  perish  ! 


THE  RE  FORM  A  TION. 


But  a  far  deeper  ground  of  dissatisfaction  lay  be- 
hind than  any  discontent  with  the  education  or  politics 
of  the  time ;  religion,  which  touches  the  life  of  all 
classes  in  its  inmost  springs,  had  fallen  into  a  deep 
degeneracy.  If  the  common  man  had  a  hard  life  of 
it  in  this  world,  compelled  to  incessant  toil,  subject 
to  pestilence,  bad  harvests,  and  the  exactions  of  his 
superiors,  what  was  there  to  raise  him  above  his  troubles 
or  give  him  hope  for  the  future  ?  That  conception  of 
an  inward  self-surrender  to  God  which  He  would 
inspire,  and  to  which  He  Himself  would  respond  by 
His  helping  presence  now,  and  heaven  hereafter — the 
conception  which  had  been  the  very  kernel  of  religion 
to  Tauler  and  his  school — was  preserved  but  in 
few  hearts.  To  most  men,  religion  was  an  outside 
thing  of  rules  and  ceremonies  ;  God  was  a  harsh  judge, 
whom  all  the  sacrifices  and  merits  of  the  saints  could 
scarce  propitiate  ;  while  their  appointed  instructors, 
the  clergy,  were  in  popular  estimation  the  very  types 
of  a  proud,  idle,  often  sinful  life,  led  at  the  expense  of 
other  people.  Once  the  clergy  had  been  the  preservers 
of  learning,  the  protectors  of  the  common  people, 
and  the  asscrtors  of  justice  against  oppressive  custom ; 
now  their  luxury,  their  ignorance  in  many  cases,  their 
avarice,  and  their  often  impure  lives,  were  the  favourite 
themes  of  the  satirical  poems,  which  are  the  most 
important  productions  of  the  secular  literature  of  this 
period.^  The  way  in  which  such  men  adapted  the 
consolations  of  religion  to  the  wants  of  the  common 
people,  shows  a  state  of  mind  which  it  is  very  difficult 
for  us   to  realize  at  all.      Pious  brotherhoods  were 

*  This  is  the  era  of  "  Renard  the  Fox,"  "  Till  Eulenspiegel,"  Brant's 
"  Ship  of  Fools,"  and  the  poems  of  Rosenbliit. 


102         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

formed  for  accumulating  a  stock  of  spiritual  treasures, 
the  benefits  of  which  were  to  secure  to  each  member 
eternal  salvation.  Thus,  for  instance,^  that  of  the 
Eleven  Thousand  Virgins,  called  St.  Ursula's  Ship,  to 
which  the  Elector  Frederick  the  Wise  belonged,  had 
a  stock  of  6,455  niasses,  3,550  whole  psalters,  200,000 
rosaries,  i  i,ooo  prayers  to  St.  Ursula,  630  times  1 1,000 
Paternosters  and  Ave  Marias,  &c.  &c.  &c.  All  these 
were  available  to  wipe  out  the  sins  of  the  individual 
members  of  the  brotherhood.  But  in  one  respect  this 
association  was  one  of  the  best  :  a  man  could  become 
a  member  by  the  mere  repeating  of  a  certain  number 
of  prayers,  and  it  was  therefore  open  to  the  poor  ; 
where  payment  of  money  was  required,  as  was  fre- 
quently the  case,  of  course  the  poor  man  was 
excluded. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  how  in  a  country  where 
such  societies  already  existed,  Tetzel,  the  German 
Dominican,  to  whom  Leo  X.  had  confided  the  sale  of 
indulgences  in  Germany,  should  have  found  there  a 
good  market  for  his  wares.  He  rode  from  town  to 
town,  everywhere  received  with  great  pomp  and  cere- 
mony by  the  clergy.  His  great  red  cross  was  set 
up  in  the  nave  of  the  parish  church,  and  day  by  day 
he  preached  and  exhorted  the  people  not  to  lose  such 
an  opportunity  of  securing  heaven,  resorting  often  to 
the  coarsest  and  most  profane  expressions  and  devices. 
On  his  way  he  came  to  a  village  near  Wittenberg, 
where  the  sale  of  indulgences  was  to  begin  on  All 
Saints  Day,  the  festival  of  the  dedication  of  the  church ; 
but  the  night  before,  another  monk  of  the  Augustine 
order   had  affixed   to   the   church-doors   his  famous 

1  Freytag,  "  Bilderaus  der  deutschen  Vergangenheit, "  vol.  i.  p.  90. 


THE  REFORMATION.  103 

"  Ninety-five   theses   on  the  power  of  indulgences," 
and  henceforward  their  sale  was  to  be  checked. 

Luther,  born  in  1483  in  the  village  of  Eisleben, 
sprang  from  the  people,  for  he  was  the  son  of  a  pious 
and  honest,  but  stern  peasant.  He  had  known  want 
and  hardships  in  childhood,  and  terrible  mental  con- 
flicts in  later  years.  One  of  these  drove  him  into  a 
monastery,  and  there  they  did  not  cease.  "  Of  a  truth 
I  was  a  pious  monk,  and  kept  the  rule  of  my  order 
more  strictly  than  I  can  tell.  If  ever  a  monk  got 
to  heaven  by  monkery,  I  was  determined  to  get  there, 
I  strained  myself  to  the  very  utmost,  and  tormented 
and  plagued  my  body  with  fastings,  vigils,  prayers,  and 
other  exercises,  far  more  than  my  bitterest  enemies 
can  torment  me  now.  I,  and  others  too,  have  toiled 
to  the  utmost,  with  a  deadly  sincerity,  to  bring  our 
hearts  and  consciences  to  rest  and  peace  before  God, 
and  yet  could  never  find  that  same  peace  amid  such 
horrible  darkness."  "  For  I  knew  Christ  no  more, 
save  as  a  severe  judge,  from  whom  I  sought  to  escape, 
and  yet  could  not."  In  this  distress  of  mind  he  was 
comforted  by  an  aged  monk,  who  taught  him  that 
Christ  was  the  atonement  for  all  our  sins,  and  that 
this  was  proclaimed  by  the  Church  in  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  and  directed  him  to  the  study  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans. 

From  this  time  he  was  a  zealous  preacher  and 
professor  of  theology,  and  he  had  always  been  an 
earnest  Romanist.  Even  his  visit  to  Rome  in  15 10, 
though  he  had  been  greatly  shocked  at  the  infidelity 
and  immorality  he  met  there,  had  not  led  him  to 
think  for  a  moment  of  such  a  thing  as  setting  himself 
in  opposition  to  the  Papal  authority.     Nothing  short 


I04         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

of  seeing  that  the  authorities  of  the  Roman  Church 
in  that  day  countenanced  a  practice  so  clearly  con- 
trary to  the  Gospel,  and  ruinous  to  men's  souls,  as 
this  sale  of  indulgences,  could  have  moved  him  to 
take  a  step  of  such  tremendous  import.  Many  years 
afterwards  he  said,  "  I  entered  on  this  affair  with 
great  fear  and  trembling.  I  was  alone,  and  had 
entangled  myself  in  the  contest  without  forethought, 
and  on  many  and  weighty  points  I  gave  way  to  the 
Pope ;  not  only  because  I  could  not  draw  back,  but 
because  I  sincerely  and  earnestly  worshipped  him 
from  the  bottom  of  my  soul  ....  How  and  what 
my  heart  suffered  and  underwent  in  those  first  two 
years,  and  in  what  a  sense  of  unworthiness  (not  false 
and  affected,  but  true  and  sincere),  nay,  in  what 
sheer  despair  I  was  plunged,  is  little  conceived  by 
those  who  have  since  assailed  the  Pope's  majesty 
with  great  pride  and  arrogance.  But  I,  alone  in  the 
breach,  was  none  so  joyous  and  sure  of  my  cause." 

It  was  in  15 17  that  he  published  his  Theses,  and 
during  the  next  three  years,  while  engaged  in  disputes 
with  Cajetan  and  Eck,  he  wrote  and  brought  out 
several  of  his  most  important  works,  among  them 
his  Commentary  on  the  Galatians,  his  Address  to  the 
Christian  Nobles  of  Germany,  and  his  sermon  on 
the  Liberty  of  a  Christian  Man.  In  1520  came  his 
open  breach  with  the  Pope,  when  he  burnt  the  Papal 
bull  of  excommunication.  Then  followed  his  ap- 
pearance before  the  Diet  of  Worms  in  1521 ;  his  con- 
cealment on  the  Wartburg,  and  return  to  Wittenberg 
in  1522  ;  his  marriage  in  1525  ;  and  his  life  at  Witten- 
berg, until  the  year  1546,  when  he  died  on  a  journey, 
at  Eisleben,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three. 


LUTHER'S  BIBLE.  105 

Luther  was  a  true  representative  of  the  German 
people,  in  the  depth  and  force  and  honesty  of  his 
nature,  in  his  keenness  of  intellect  and  his  occasional 
coarseness,  in  his  love  of  art  and  humour  and 
domestic  life.  Hence  all  he  said  and  did  was  caught 
up  by  the  people  with  an  enthusiasm  which  can 
scarcely  be  conceived.  "  His  Theses  flew  over  Ger- 
many," says  a  contemporary,  Myconius,  "as  if  the 
angels  of  God  had  been  his  messengers,  and  carried 
them  to  all  men's  eyes."  The  works  that  so  quickly 
followed  them,  seemed  to  utter  the  very  words  for 
which  men's  souls  were  thirsting.  His  great  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  one 
Mediator  between  God  and  man,  gave  peace  to  the 
conscience  by  delivering  it  from  the  burden  of  past 
sins,  and  a  new  spring  of  life  to  the  soul  by  showing 
men  that  their  dependence  was  not  on  anything  in 
themselves,  no  works  of  their  own  performance,  but 
on  the  infinite  love  and  mercy  of  God  which  He  had 
manifested  to  all  mankind  in  His  Son.  And  again, 
his  doctrine  of  the  universal  priesthood  of  all  be- 
lievers put  a  new  spirit  into  the  Church,  by  vindicating 
for  every  member  of  it  his  right  and  duty  to  offer  for 
himself  the  sacrifice  of  praise  and  prayer,  and  to 
study  for  himself  God's  word  in  the  Scriptures. 

It  was  on  the  Wartburg  that  he  began  his  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible,  the  first  part  of  which,  the  New 
Testament,  was  published  in  1522,  and  the  whole 
Bible  in  1534.  "In  this  work,"  says  Grimm,  "Luther 
has  made  use  of  his  mother-tongue  with  such  force, 
purity,  and  beauty,  that  his  style,  from  its  powerful 
influence  on  our  whole  language,  must  be  considered 
to  have  been  the  germ  and  laid  the   basis   of   the 


io6         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

modern  high  German  language,  from  which,  up  to  the 
present  day,  but  few  deviations  have  taken  place, 
and  those  mostly  to  the  detrim.ent  of  its  force  and  ex- 
pressiveness." His  next  effort  was  to  give  the  people 
the  means  of  worshipping  God  in  their  own  language. 
In  1523  he  pubhshed  a  treatise  "on  the  ordering  of 
Divine  Service  in  the  Church  ;"  and  at  Christmas  1525, 
service  was  celebrated  in  the  parish  church  of  Witten- 
berg according  to  this  new  German  rendering  of  the 
mass.  In  1526  came  out  a  complete  new  German 
liturgy,  and  now  was  felt  the  want  of  German  psalms 
and  hymns  to  fill  the  place  of  the  Latin  hymns  and 
sequences.  Luther  at  once  set  to  work  to  supply  it. 
He  was  intensely  fond  of  both  music  and  poetry,  and 
was  himself  a  master  of  vigorous  and  simple  German. 
What  he  thought  of  music  may  be  seen  from  the 
preface  to  this  work ;  and  long  before  Shakespeare 
he  had  said,  "  He  who  despises  music,  as  all  fanatics 
do,  will  never  be  my  friend."  He  would  have  all 
children  taught  to  sing :  "  For  I  would  fain  see  all  arts, 
specially  music,  in  the  service  of  Him  who  has  given 
and  created  them." 

From  this  time  onwards,  throughout  his  life,  he 
was  an  active  reformer  of  church  music  and  hymns, 
and  enlisted  in  the  same  work  the  large  circle  of 
friends  whom  he  gathered  round  him.  At  Witten- 
berg he  kept  open  house,  and  many  who  came  from 
a  distance  to  see  and  consult  with  the  great  reformer, 
or  poor  students  who  came  to  attend  his  lectures, 
found  a  place  at  his  table.  After  dinner,  whether  he 
dined  at  home  or  abroad,  it  was  his  custom  to  take  a 
lute  and  sing  and  play  for  half  an  hour  or  more  with 
his  friends.      In  1524  he  invited  Conrad  Rupf,  choir- 


L  UTHER  'S  HYMNS.  107 

master  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  Johann  Walther, 
then  choir-master  to  Frederick  the  Wise  at  Jorgau,  to 
live  with  him  until  the  work  of  reforming  and  readapt- 
ing  the  liturgy  for  popular  use  should  be  completed. 
With  this  "  house-choir,"  as  he  calls  it,  he  studied  the 
old  stores  of  church  music,  with  which  he  had  already 
a  considerable  acquaintance  from  his  own  education  as 
a  chorister,  and  selected  those  tunes  which  lent  them- 
selves best  to  their  new  purpose.  A  large  number  of 
chorales  belonging  to  the  old  Latin  hymns,  others  of 
German  origin — whether  sacred,  or,  in  some  cases,  secu- 
lar— were  thus  appropriated  ;  a  still  larger  number  of 
new  tunes  were  composed.  Luther  himself  composed 
several  ;^  among  others,  the  splendid  chorale  to  his  own 
hymn,  "A  sure  stronghold  our  God  is  He,"  and  that 
to  his  Christmas  carol,  "  From  heaven  above  to  earth 
I  come."  But  it  was  in  the  composition  of  the  hymns 
that  his  own  chief  work  lay.  "  It  is  my  intention," 
he  writes  to  his  friend  Spalatin,  "  after  the  example  of 
the  prophets  and  the  ancient  fathers,  to  make  German 
psalms  for  the  people  ;  that  is,  spiritual  songs,  where- 
by the  Word  of  God  may  be  kept  alive  among  them 
by  singing.  We  seek,  therefore,  everywhere  for  poets. 
Now,  as  you  are  such  a  master  of  the  German  tongue, 
and  are  so  mighty  and  eloquent  therein,  I  entreat 
you  to  join  hands  with  us  in  this  work,  and  to  turn 
one  of  the  psalms  into  a  hymn,  according  to  the 
pattern  {i.e.  an  attempt  of  my  own)  that  I  here  send 
you.  But  I  desire  that  all  new-fangled  words  from 
the  Court  should  be  left  out ;  that  the  words  may  be 
all   quite   plain   and  common,  such  as  the  common 

1  He  is  the  undisputed  author  of  three  chorales,  and  about  fifteen 
may  in  all  probability  be  ascribed  to  him. 


io8         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

people  may  understand,  yet  pure,  and  skilfully 
handled  ;  and  next,  that  the  meaning  should  be  given 
clearly  and  graciously,  according  to  the  sense  of 
the  psalm  itself."  Luther  himself  had  recourse  to 
this  most  ancient  treasury  of  sacred  song,  and  wrote 
versions  of  various  psalms,  choosing  them,  as  we  may 
observe,  from  their  adaptation  to  his  own  circum- 
stances and  feelings.  He  also  translated  afresh  many 
of  the  Latin  hymns,  which  he  counted  among  the  good 
things  that  God's  power  and  wonderful  working  had 
kept  alive  amid  so  much  corruption,  and  gave  new 
versions  of  several  of  the  early  German  hymns. 

Altogether  he  wrote  certainly  thirty-seven  hymns. 
More  are  frequently  ascribed  to  him,  but  with  doubtful 
accuracy.  Of  these,  twelve  were  translations  from 
the  Latin,  and  four  were  new  renderings  of  the  old 
German  Leisen ;  the  remainder  were  purely  original 
compositions.  The  intention  with  which  they  were 
written  is  clearly  enough  to  be  discerned.  They  were 
not  so  much  outpourings  of  the  individual  soul,  as 
the  voice  of  the  congregation  meant  for  use  in  public 
worship,  or  to  give  the  people  a  short,  clear  confession 
of  faith,  easily  to  be  remembered.  But  they  are  not 
written  from  the  outside ;  Luther  throws  into  them 
all  his  own  fervent  faith  and  deep  devotion.  The 
style  is  plain,  often  rugged  and  quaint,  but  genuinely 
popular.  So,  too,  was  their  cheerful  trust  and  noble 
courage  ;  their  clear,  vigorous  spirit,  that  sprang  from 
steadfast  faith  in  a  Redeemer.  All  the  many  con- 
flicts, inward  and  outward,  of  Luther's  life,  had  only 
deepened  his  experience ;  they  had  by  no  means 
damped  his  courage  or  his  power  of  enjoyment. 
Since  he  himself  had  once  found  peace  in   Christ, 


LUTHER'S  HYMNS.  109 

and  could  trust  in  God,  he  was  at  leisure  to  feel  all 
the  delightfulness  of  music,  of  children,  of  birds  and 
flowers,  of  the  society  of  pleasant  friends  ;  he  had, 
too,  a  strong  sense  of  humour,  which,  in  his  polemical 
writings,  shows  itself  in  very  downright,  and  often 
coarse  forms,  but  which  gives  a  peculiar  raciness  and 
life  to  his  letters  and  sayings. 

In  the  years  when  he  was  composing  most  of 
his  hymns,  four  printers  in  Erfurt  alone  were  entirely 
occupied  in  printing  and  publishing  them.  Nor  could 
they  be  prevented  from  penetrating  where  his  printed 
works  were  carefully  excluded ;  they  were  carried 
over  the  country  by  wandering  students  and  pedlars, 
and  here  and  there  found  their  way  even  into  Roman 
Catholic  churches.  "The  whole  people,"  writes  a 
Romanist  of  that  day,  "is  singing  itself  into  this 
Lutheran  doctrine."  Collections  of  hymns  sprang  up 
at  this  time  with  astounding  rapidity,  and  in  several 
of  these  Luther  took  part.  The  four  principal  ones, 
which  have  prefaces  written  by  him,  and  contain  most 
of  his  hymns,  passed  through  many  editions,  and  are 
known  by  the  names  of  their  printers.^  Of  these,  the 
earliest,  the  "  Enchiridion,"  published  at  Erfurt  in 
1524,  was  at  first  placed  in  the  people's  hands  for 
reading  while  the  choir  were  singing,  for  the  con- 
gregation was  so  unused  to  joining  in  the  public 
service,  that  they  could  not  at  once  adopt  the  new 
practice.  It  was  some  four  or  five  years  before 
Luther  taught  the  people  in  his  own  parish  church  of 
Wittenberg  to  sing  in  church,  but  then  the  custom 
spread  very  swiftly. 

1  They  are  the  "  Erfurter  Enchiridion,"  the  hymn-book  of  Johann 
Walther,  that  of  Joseph  Klug,  and  that  of  Valentin  Babst 


no         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

The  best  known  of  all  Luther's  hymns  is  that 
founded  on  the  forty-sixth  Psalm,  which  has  been 
already  mentioned.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been 
written  on  his  way  to  the  Diet  of  Worms,  from  the 
coincidence  of  the  third  verse  with  Luther's  answer  to 
Spalatin,  who  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  the  journey: 
"  If  there  were  as  many  devils  in  Worms  as  there  are 
tiles  on  the  roofs,  I  would  go,  and  would  not  be 
afraid.  If  Huss  was  burnt  to  ashes,  the  truth  was 
not  burnt  with  him."  Some,  however,  think  that  it 
was  composed  at  the  close  of  the  Second  Diet  of 
Spires — that  in  1529,  which  revoked  the  religious 
liberty  granted  in  the  previous  one  of  1526,  and 
against  which  five  sovereign  princes  and  fifteen  free 
cities  protested,  and  so  earned  the  name  oi  Protes- 
ta7its,  a  title  which  is,  however,  very  rarely  used  in 
Germany,  as  "  Evangelical "  is  the  word  used  there  in 
contradistinction  to  Roman  Catholic. 

THE  STRONGHOLD. 

A  sure  stronghold  our  God  is  He, 

A  trusty  shield  and  weapon  ; 
Our  help  He'll  be,  and  set  us  free, 
Whatever  ill  may  happen. 
That  old  malicious  foe 
Intends  us  deadly  woe  ; 
Armed  with  the  strength  of  hell. 
And  deepest  craft  as  well, 
On  earth  is  not  his  fellow. 

Through  our  own  force  we  nothing  can, 

Straight  were  we  lost  for  ever, 
But  for  us  fights  the  proper  Man, 

By  God  sent  to  deliver. 


LUTHER'S  HYMNS. 


Ask  ye  who  this  may  be  ? 
Christ  Jesus  named  is  He, 
Of  Sabaoth  the  Lord, 
Sole  God  to  be  adored, 
'Tis  He  must  win  the  battle. 

And  were  the  world  with  devils  filled 

All  eager  to  devour  us, 
Our  souls  to  fear  should  little  yield, 
They  cannot  overpower  us. 
Their  dreaded  Prince  no  more 
Can  harm  us  as  of  yore  ; 
Look  grim  as  e'er  he  may. 
Doomed  is  his  ancient  sway ; 
A  word  can  overthrow  him. 

Still  shall  they  leave  that  Word  its  might. 

And  yet  no  thanks  shall  merit ; 
Still  is  He  with  us  in  the  fight 
By  His  good  gifts  and  Spirit. 
E'en  should  they  take  our  life, 
Goods,  honour,  children,  wife, 
Though  all  of  these  were  gone. 
Yet  nothing  have  they  won — 
God's  kingdom  ours  abideth  ! 

Still  more  popular  in  its  own  day  was  the  second 
hymn  that  Luther  ever  wrote  ;  no  doubt  from  its  con- 
taining in  short  compass  a  complete  epitome,  at  once 
of  the  reformed  doctrine  of  salvation,  and  of  the 
actual  experience  of  those  who  had  passed  through 
the  same  conflicts  as  Luther  himself.  An  eye-witness 
of  the  Reformation  says :  "  Who  doubts  not  that 
many  hundred  Christians  have  been  brought  to  the 
true  faith  by  this  one  hymn  alone,  who  before,  per- 
chance, could  not  so  much  as  bear  to  hear  Luther's 


112  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

name.  But  his  sweet  and  noble  words  have  so  taken 
their  hearts  that  they  were  constrained  to  come  to 
the  truth."  A  curious  use  was  made  of  it  in  the 
year  1557,  when  a  number  of  princes  belonging  to 
the  reformed  religion  being  assembled  at  Frankfort, 
they  wished  to  have  an  evangelical  service  in  the 
church  of  St.  Bartholomew.  A  large  congregation 
assembled,  but  the  pulpit  was  occupied  by  a  Roman 
Catholic  priest,  who  proceeded  to  preach  according 
to  his  own  views.  After  listening  for  some  time  in 
indignant  silence  the  whole  congregation  rose  and 
began  to  sing  this  hymn,  till  they  fairly  sang  the 
priest  out  of  church.  Its  tune  is  that  known  in 
England  as  Luther's  Hymn,  and  tradition  says  that 
Luther  noted  it  down  from  the  singing  of  a  travelling 
artisan.     Luther's  own  title  to  it  is — 

A  THANKSGIVING  FOR  THE  HIGHEST  BENEFITS 
WHICH  GOD  HAS  SHOWN  US  IN  CHRIST. 

Dear  Christian  people,  now  rejoice  ! 

Our  hearts  within  us  leap, 
While  we,  as  with  one  soul  and  voice, 

With  love  and  gladness  deep, 
Tell  how  our  God  beheld  our  need, 
And  sing  that  sweet  and  wondrous  deed, 

That  hath  so  dearly  cost  Him. 

Captive  to  Satan  once  I  lay, 

In  inner  death  forlorn  ; 
My  sins  oppressed  me  night  and  day, 

Therein  I  had  been  born, 
And  deeper  fell  howe'er  I  strove ; 
My  life  had  neither  joy  nor  love, 

So  sore  had  sin  possessed  me. 


L  UTHER  'S  H  YMNS.  1 1 3 


My  good  works  could  avail  me  nought, 
For  they  with  sin  were  stained  ; 

My  will  against  God's  justice  fought, 
And  dead  to  good  remained  ; 

My  anguish  drove  me  to  despair. 

For  Death  I  knew  was  waiting  there, 
And  what  but  Hell  was  left  me  ? 

Then  God  in  His  eternity 

Looked  on  my  boundless  woe, 

His  deep  compassions  flowed  toward  me, 
True  succour  to  bestow  : 

His  Father's  heart  did  yearn  and  melt 

To  heal  the  bitter  pains  I  felt, 
Though  it  should  cost  His  dearest. 

He  spake  to  His  beloved  Son : 

"  Go  Thou,  my  heart's  bright  Crown, 

The  time  for  pity  is  begun, 
Go  Thou  in  mercy  down 

To  break  for  men  Sin's  heavy  chain. 

To  end  for  them  Death's  hopeless  reign, 
And  give  them  life  eternal." 

The  Son  delighteth  to  obey, 
And  bom  of  virgin  mother, 

Awhile  on  this  low  earth  did  stay, 
And  thus  became  my  Brother  ; 

His  mighty  power  He  hidden  bore, 

A  servant's  form  like  mine  He  wore. 
My  foe  for  me  to  vanquish. 

To  me  He  spake:  "  Hold  fast  by  Me, 
And  thou  shalt  conquer  now ; 

Myself  I  wholly  give  for  thee. 
For  thee  I  wrestle  now  ; 

S.L.  VI.  I 


114          CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY.  ' 

For  I  am  with  thee,  thou  art  Mine, 

Henceforth  My  place  is  also  thine,  ] 

The  foe  shall  never  part  us.  j 

"  I  know  that  he  will  shed  My  blood,  i 

And  take  My  life  away ;  % 

But  I  will  bear  it  for  thy  good,  < 
Only  believe  alway ; 

Death  swallows  up  this  life  of  Mine,  ■• 

My  innocence  all  sins  of  thine, 

And  so  art  thou  delivered.  ' 

"  And  when  I  rise  to  heaven  above,  ' 

AVhere  is  my  Father's  home, 

I  still  will  be  Thy  Lord  in  love,  ■ 

And  bid  my  Spirit  come  '■': 

To  solace  thee  in  every  woe,  j 

To  teach  thee  Me  aright  to  know,  ■; 

And  into  Truth  to  guide  thee.  • 

"  And  even  as  I  have  done  and  said,  n 

So  shalt  thou  say  and  do,  ■[ 
That  so  God's  kingdom  may  be  spread. 

And  He  have  honour  due  ;  i 

■I 

And  this  last  counsel  give  I  thee,  ^ 

From  men's  additions  keep  thou  free  I 

The  treasure  I  have  left  thee."  j 

We  add  Luther's  version  of  the  Song  of  Simeon  : —  ' 

NUNC  DIMITTIS.  ^ 

■i 

In  peace  and  joy  I  now  depart,  5 

According  to  God's  will ;  v 

For  full  of  comfort  is  my  heart,  't 

So  calm  and  still.  ;. 

So  doth  God  His  promise  keep, 

And  death  to  me  is  but  a  sleep. 


"Jkitut  Jon  at— V.  115 


L  UTHER  'S  H  YMNS.  1 1 5 

'Tis  Christ  has  wrought  this  work  for  me  ; 

Thy  dear  and  only  Son, 
Whom  Thou  hast  suffered  me  to  see, 

And  made  Him  known 
As  our  Help  when  woes  are  rife, 
And  e'en  in  death  itself  our  Life. 

For  Thou  in  mercy  unto  all 

Hast  set  this  Saviour  forth, 
And  to  His  kingdom  Thou  dost  call 

The  whole  sad  earth. 
Through  Thy  blessed,  wholesome  Word, 
That  now  in  every  place  is  heard. 

He  is  the  Hope,  the  Saving  Light, 

That  heathen  nations  need, 
And  those  who  know  Thee  not  aright 

Will  teach  and  lead  ; 
While  His  Israel's  joy  He  is, 
His  people's  glory,  praise,  and  bliss. 

Among  the  friends  enlisted  by  Luther  as  writers  for 
the  new  hymn-books,  the  principal  were  Justus  Jonas, 
who  was  for  many  years  his  colleague  in  the  pro- 
fessorship of  theology  at  Wittenberg ;  and  Paul  Eber, 
who  stood  in  a  similar  relation  to  Melancthon, 
Melancthon  himself  wrote  no  hymns,  for  the  one  or 
two  often  attributed  to  him  are  really  passages  from  his 
writings  versified  by  friends.  His  work  lay  in  the 
scholarship  which  produced  what  was  long  the  standard 
edition  in  Germany  of  the  Greek  Testament,  and  in 
the  theology  that  gave  shape  to  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg.  Justus  Jonas  was  the- son  of  the  burgo- 
master of  Nordhausen,  a  clever  young  lawyer,  who 
very  early  became  professor  of  jurisprudence  at  Erfurt 

I  2 


ii6  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

and  a  friend  of  Erasmus  and  Luther.     So  close  was 
his  intimacy  with  the  latter,  that  he  accompanied  him 
to  Worms,  an  act  for  which  he  was  deprived  of  his 
salary  as  professor.    Luther  then  induced  him  to  study 
divinity  and    take   orders,  and    for   many  years  the 
two  men  lived  in  constant  association  at  Wittenberg ; 
Justus  Jonas  accompanied  his  friend  on  his  last  journey, 
stood  by  his  death-bed,  and  with  many  tears  preached 
his  funeral  sermon.     Luther's  death  was  followed,  as 
he  had  himself  foretold,  by  troubles  and  strife.     For 
six  years  (from  1546  to  1552)  Germany  was  distracted 
by  a  civil  war,  of  which   the  object  was  to  obtain 
toleration  for  the  reformed  doctrine,  an  end  achieved 
at   last   by   Maurice    of    Saxony,    in    the   treaty   of 
Passau.      Nor  was  this  the   only  struggle    that  was 
going  on.     Differences  of  opinion  on  intricate  theo- 
logical  questions   had  already  begun   to  divide   the 
Reformers  themselves.     Various  sects  arose,  but  the 
chief    division   was   that   between     the    followers   of 
Luther  who  adhered  to  the  Confession  of  Augsburg, 
and    those    of    Zwinglius    who    adopted    the    more 
Calvinistic  views  of  the  Swiss  reformers,  with  a  lower 
sacramental   theory.      These   called    themselves  dis- 
tinctively the  Reformed  Church,  while  the  Lutherans 
adopted  the  name  of  the  Evangelical  Church  ;   but 
the   latter   were   by   far    the    most   numerous   body, 
and  occupied    in    most    States   the   position   of    the 
National  Protestant  Church  of  Germany,  while  the 
Reformed   Church    took    up    that    of   an  important 
and  tolerated  sect.     Justus  Jonas,  who  was  not  merely 
a  good  theologian,  but  a  skilful  jurist,  naturally  had 
to  take  part  in  all  the  many  discussions  and   con- 
ferences in  which  the  evangelical  doctrine  gradually 


JUSTUS  JONAS.  117 


assumed  definite  form  and  consistency,  and  the  legal 
and  political  rights  of  its  adherents  were  ascertained 
and  asserted  ;  and  of  course  he  had  to  bear  his  share 
of  the  difficulties  in  which  he  was  thus  involved.  On 
one  occasion  a  Spanish  officer  quartered  in  his  house 
received  a  large  bribe  to  assassinate  him,  but  was 
so  much  impressed  by  the  piety,  integrity,  and 
kindness  of  his  intended  victim,  that  he  confessed  his 
purpose  to  him,  and  entreated  forgiveness.  Yet  on 
his  deathbed  this  well-proved  servant  of  Christ  suf- 
fered much  from  mental  doubts  and  conflicts,  until  at 
last  peace  returned,  and  he  fell  asleep  "  as  a  tired 
soldier."  What  he  did  for  hymnology  was  to  help 
Luther  in  preparing  metrical  German  versions  of  the 
Psalms,  choosing  by  preference,  as  one  can  well 
understand,  those  which  speak  of  David's  sufferings 
from  his  enemies,  and  his  trust  in  God's  deliverance. 
Some  of  these  are  vtry  celebrated,  especially  the 
one  here  given  : — 

PSALM  CXXIV. 

If  God  were  not  upon  our  side 

When  foes  around  us  rage, 
Were  not  Himself  our  Help  and  Guide 

When  bitter  war  they  wage, 
Were  He  not  Israel's  mighty  Shield, 
To  whom  their  utmost  crafts  must  yield, 
We  surely  must  have  perished. 

But  now  no  human  wit  or  might 

Should  make  us  quail  for  fear, 
God  sitteth  in  the  highest  height, 

And  makes  their  counsels  clear  ; 


Ii8         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

When  craftiest  snares  and  nets  they  lay, 
God  goes  to  work  another  way, 

And  makes  a  path  before  us. 

In  wrathful  pride  they  rage  and  mock 

Against  our  souls  in  vain : 
As  billows  meet  with  angry  shock 

Out  on  the  stormy  main, 
So  they  our  lives  with  fury  seek ; 
But  God  hath  pity  on  the  weak, 

And  Him  they  have  forgotten. 

They  call  us  heretics,  and  lie 

In  wait  to  spill  our  blood ; 
Yet  flaunt  their  Christian  name  on  high, 

And  boast  they  worship  God. 
Ah  God  !  that  precious  name  of  Thine 
O'er  many  a  wicked  deed  must  shine, 
But  Thou  wilt  once  avenge  it. 

They  open  wide  their  ravenous  jaws 

To  swallow  us  indeed. 
But  thanks  to  God,  who  rules  our  cause, 

They  shall  not  yet  succeed  : 
Their  snares  He  yet  will  bring  to  nought, 
And  overthrow  what  they  have  taught ; 
God  is  too  mighty  for  them. 

How  richly  He  consoleth  those 

Who  have  no  other  friend  ! 
The  door  of  grace  doth  never  close  ; 

Sense  cannot  comprehend 
How  this  may  be,  and  deems  all  lost, 
When  through  this  very  cross  a  host 
Of  champions  God  is  raising. 


/'<!/</  Eber. — P.  119. 


PAUL  EBER.  119 


Our  foes,  O  God,  are  in  Thy  hand, 

Thou  knowest  every  plot ; 
But  only  give  us  strength  to  stand, 

And  let  us  waver  not, 
Though  Reason  strive  ^vith  Faith,  and  still 
She  fear  to  wholly  trust  Thy  will. 
And  sees  not  Thy  salvation. 

But  heaven  and  earth,  O  Lord,  are  Thine, 

By  Thee  alone  were  made, 
Then  let  Thy  light  upon  us  shine, 

O  Thou  our  only  aid  ! 
Kindle  our  hearts  to  love  and  faith 
That  shall  be  steadfast  e'en  to  death, 

Howe'er  the  world  may  murmur ! 

As  Justus  Jonas  had  somewhat  of  Luther's  talents 
and  frank  courage,  so  Paul  Eber  was  not  unlike  his 
great  friend  Melancthon.  He  was  the  son  of  a  poor 
tailor,  a  small  delicate  child,  whose  love  of  books 
induced  his  father  to  stint  himself  even  in  food,  in 
order  to  send  the  boy  to  the  Grammar  School  of 
Nuremberg,  one  of  the  first  schools  into  which  the 
reformed  doctrine  had  penetrated.  Paul  Eber  at 
once  imbibed  its  spirit,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  old 
enough,  went  to  Wittenberg  to  sit  at  Luther's  feet. 
Attracted  by  his  thoughtfulness  and  purity  of  manners, 
Luther  invited  him  to  his  table,  where  he  met  Melanc- 
thon, and  as  the  lad  wrote  a  remarkably  clear  and 
delicate  hand,  while  Melancthon  wrote  a  particularly 
bad  one,  the  latter  took  him  for  his  amanuensis. 
From  this  time  they  lived  on  terms  of  the  closest 
intimacy,  so  that  Luther  used  to  call  him  "  Philip's 
familiar,"  and  "  Philip's  treasury."     He  became  pro- 


I20         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

fessor  of  Hebrew  at  Wittenberg,  and  married  a  wife 
whom  Melancthon  chose  for  him,  with  whom  he  hved 
most  happily.  But  in  the  theological  disputes  of 
those  days  he,  like  many  others  of  Melancthon's 
special  followers,  was  accused  of  concealed  Calvinism, 
and  bitterly  attacked  ;  and  finally,  at  the  conference  of 
Altenburg,  in  1569,  he  was  named  among  those  who 
were  excluded  on  this  ground  from  the  Lord's  Table 
and  the  privilege  of  becoming  sponsors.  He  went 
home  in  cold  March  weather,  wounded  to  the  heart 
by  this  intolerance ;  his  health  gave  way,  and  the 
death  of  his  wife,  which  occurred  unexpectedly  about 
this  time,  was  his  own  deathblow.     He  died  in  1569. 

Eber's  hymns  have  a  tone  of  tenderness  and  pathos 
about  them,  which  is  much  less  characteristic  of  this 
period  than  the  grave,  manly  trustfulness  of  Luther 
and  Jonas.  But  they  soon  became  very  widely  known, 
and  in  the  following  age,  that  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  few  hymns  were  more  constantly  used  both  in 
public  and  private,  than  one  of  his  beginning  : — 

"  When  in  the  hour  of  utmost  need 
We  know  not  where  to  look  for  aid, 
When  days  and  nights  of  anxious  thought 
Nor  help  nor  comfort  yet  have  brought ; 
Then  this  our  comfort  is  alone, 
That  we  may  meet  before  Thy  throne, 
And  cry,  O  faithful  God,  to  Thee, 
For  rescue  from  our  misery." 

This  hymn  was  composed  in  1547,  when  the 
Imperial  armies  were  besieging  Wittenberg,  and  Eber 
with  two  others  were  the  only  professors  who  remained 
in  the  university.     Two  of  his  hymns  for  the  dying 


PAULEBER.  121 


have  been  always  very  commonly  used  at  deathbeds 
and  funerals  in  the  Roman  Catholic  as  well  as  the 
Evangelical  parts  of  Germany.  The  one  is,'^  "  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  true  Man  and  God ; "  the  other  is  the 
following  childlike  expression  of  perfect  trust  : — 


DEATH  IN  THE  LORD. 

I  fall  asleep  in  Jesu's  arms,^ 
Sin  washed  away,  hushed  all  alarms. 
For  His  dear  blood,  His  righteousness, 
My  jewels  are,  my  glorious  dress. 
Wherein  before  my  God  I  stand 
When  I  shall  reach  the  heavenly  land. 

With  peace  and  joy  I  now  depart, 
God's  child  I  am  with  all  my  heart ; 
I  thank  thee,  Death,  thou  leadest  me 
To  that  true  life  where  I  would  be. 
So  cleansed  by  Christ  I  fear  not  Death, 
Lord  Jesu,  strengthen  Thou  my  faith  ! 

1  "  Herr  Jesu  Christ,  wahr  Mensch  und  Gott." 

2  Literally,  "I  fall  asleep  in  Jesu's  wounds."  Similar  expressions 
are  common  in  the  mediaeval  hymns,  and  in  some  of  the  later  Roman 
Catholic  ones.  In  the  Evangelical  hymns  they  occur  much  less 
frequently,  and  chiefly  among  the  earlier  Moravians. 


CHAPTER  VI.     . 

HYMNS  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 
A.D.   1520 — 1600. 

Luther  and  his  immediate  friends  were  only  the 
founders  of  the  new  German  hymnology ;  it  rapidly 
spread  over  a  much  wider  field.  The  number  of 
hymn-writers  who  suddenly  sprang  up  at  this  time 
is  indeed  far  too  great  to  admit  of  any  detailed 
account  of  them.  It  included  not  only  clergymen 
and  professors  like  those  already  mentioned,  Erasmus 
Alber,  whose  secular  writings  especially  his  fables 
were  also  celebrated,  and  Nicholas  Decius,  a  con- 
verted monk,  whose  German  version  of  the  "  Gloria 
in  excelsis," 

"  All  glory  be  to  God  on  high," 

with  its  noble  chorale,  soon  came  into  use  all  over 
Germany  ;  it  also  included  men  of  all  ranks — princes, 
like  the  Margraves  of  Hesse  and  Brandenburg ; 
soldiers  and  lawyers,  like  Reissner,  who  was  at  the 
siege  of  Rome,  and  Spengler,  the  town-clerk  of  Nurem- 
berg; artisans,  like  Hans  Sachs  the  shoemaker;  and 
the  unknown  authors  of  those  popular  sacred  songs 
which  were  on  the  lips  of  wandering  craftsmen  and 
maids  at  their  work.      But  the  ground-tones  of  this 


PAUL  SPERATUS.     '  123 

religious  poetry  were  everywhere  the  same — on  the 
doctrinal  side  a  joyful  assertion  of  God's  free  grace 
and  goodwill  towards  men,  as  shown  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  and  on  the  experimental  side  an  ardent 
expression  of  hope  in  God  for  the  future,  and  ac- 
ceptance of  His  will  in  the  present.  These  men  felt 
that  He  had  suffered  a  great  new  light  of  Truth  to 
dawn  on  the  world,  and  so  though  it  might  bring 
much  conflict  it  filled  them  also  with  a  new  life  and 
courage,  and  with  a  confident  anticipation  of  a  better 
future,  which  found  its  expression  even  in  the 
services  for  the  dying  and  the  dead.  Thus  these 
hymns  have  a  certain  manliness,  breadth,  and  fervour 
about  them,  which  pre-eminently  adapted  them  for 
use  in  the  church  as  the  common  voice  of  praise  and 
prayer.  Even  those  which  seem  to  us  least  adapted 
for  such  a  purpose,  the  doctrinal  ones,  were  more 
truly  popular  in  those  days,  when  this  especial  aspect 
of  religion  was  the  thing  men  were  thinking  about 
and  fighting  for,  than  we  can  well  understand  now. 
So  a  hymn  by  Paul  Speratus,  the  chaplain  of  the 
Duke  of  Prussia,  which  begins — 

"  Salvation  hath  come  down  to  us 

Of  freest  grace  and  love, 
Works  cannot  stand  before  God's  law, 

A  broken  reed  they  prove  ; 
Faith  looks  to  Jesus  Christ  alone, 
He  must  for  all  our  sins  atone. 

He  is  our  one  Redeemer" — 

goes  on  through  several  verses  with  a  statement  of 
the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  that  sounds  to 
us  like  a  bit  out  of  the  Augsburg   Confession  done 


124         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

into  rhyme.  But  in  his  own  day  it  was  as  popular 
as  Luther's  hymns,  and  Luther  himself  is  said  to 
have  given  his  last  coin  to  a  Prussian  beggar  from 
whom  he  heard  it  for  the  first  time.  Equally  cha- 
racteristic of  the  other  class  of  hymns  is  such  an 
one  as  that  long  attributed  to  the  Elector  John  of 
Saxony,  because  he  frequently  used  it  during  his 
imprisonment,  but  really  written  by  Ambrosius 
Blaurer,  a  monk  from  the  Black  Forest  who 
joined  the  Reformed  Church. 

"  What  pleaseth  God,  that  pleaseth  me, 

I  will  not  fear  nor  tremble 
Though  cares  may  fret,  though  I  may  see 

My  bitterest  foes  assemble; 
Though  all  things  in  confusion  seem, 
I  know  God's  will  is  still  supreme : 
What  must  be,  let  it  be — I  rest 
Firmly  on  this,  His  will  is  best. 

*'  What  pleaseth  God  I  frankly  take, 

And  only  ask  for  patience  ; 
He  yet  will  help  me,  nor  forsake 

My  soul  amid  temptations  ; 
Though  pain  or  death  itself  may  threat, 
His  power  I  know  can  save  me  yet : 
What  must  be,  let  it  be — my  trust 
The  end  will  show  was  right  and  just." 

***** 

Or  take  the  following  hymn,  which  surely  embodies 
a  noble  conception  of  the  duty  and  the  aspirations 
of  a  Christian  sovereign,  and  was  composed  by  the 
prince  whose  name  it  bears.^ 

^  In  the  original  the  verses  form  an  acrostic  on  his  name. 


MARGRAVE  OF  BRANDENBURG.  125 


MARGRAVE  GEORGE  OF  BRANDENBURG'S  ■ 

SONG.  ,  i 

Grant  me,  Eternal  God,  such  grace  '^. 

That  no  distress  .^ 

May  cause  me  e'er  to  flee  from  Thee  ;  y 

Let  no  false  counsel  me  mislead,  ) 

The  heavenly  Bread,  -     ^ 

My  soul's  true  food,  be  ne'er  withdrawn  from  me  ;                • 

But  late  and  early  let  me  hear  > 

Thy  teachings  clear,  ^ 
From  teachers  taught  by  Thee  the  faith  ; 

And  yield  me  still  up  to  Thy  will,  ' 

Until  I  yield  my  soul  to  Thee  in  death.  ■ 

1 

Teach  me  to  make  true  order,  Lord,  ■{ 

That  so  Thy  Word  m 

The  common  man  may  understand ;  < 

Convert  my  subjects  to  obey  '{ 

Thy  gentle  sway  ;  ' 

Increase  the  Christian  host  within  my  land.  ' 

But  stirreth  now  full  many  a  sect 

That  doth  neglect  • 

True  Christian  faith  and  foster  strife,  .                     ; 
Save  us  from  such,  nor  let  them  touch 

Thy  Word,  our  guide  alike  in  death  and  life.  .1 


So  grant  us  peace  in  these  our  days, 

Not  strife  that  slays 
The  brother's  love  Thou  dost  commend ; 
Thou  mak'st  the  welfare  of  my  State, 

Envy  and  hate 
Keep  far  from  me  and  all,  till  life  shall  end  ; 


126  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Grant  me  Thy  Spirit  like  a  lamb, 

Thou  know'st  I  am 
But  flesh  and  blood,  and  apt  to  take  offence  ; 

That  mind  of  Thine  be  also  mine, 
For  this  I  pray  with  all  my  diligence. 

City  and  lands  in  every  part, 

With  earnest  heart 
To  Thee  who  gav'st  them  I  commend  ; 
They  are  a  charge  that  I  must  bear 

With  faithful  care  ; 
Thou  with  good  counsellors  my  throne  befriend, 
That  all  may  see  true  justice  done 

Clear  as  the  sun. 
To  rich  and  poor  impartially  ; 

Not  fraud  and  might,  reason  and  right 
Rule  here, — for  this,  for  this,  I  cry  to  Thee  ! 

And  let  the  nobles  of  our  land 

Well  understand 
The  faith,  and  find  the  one  true  Ground, 
In  all  things  earnest  to  fulfil 

Thy  holy  will ; 
By  all  who  seek  Thee  be  Thou  surely  found  ; 
So  every  class  within  the  State, 

Or  small  or  great, 
Or  young  or  old,  may  praise  Thy  name  most  high. 

Give  honour  due  and  try  to  do 
What  Thou  wouldst  have,  nor  ever  from  Thee  fly. 

Nor  be  my  own  needs,  Lord,  forgot, 

Forsake  me  not, 
But  lead  me  ever  in  Thy  way  ; 
Wisdom  and  judgment  breathe  in  me, 

And  ever  be 
Close  at  my  side  whate'er  I  do  to-day ; 


MARGRAVE  OF  BRANDENBURG.  127 


In  my  affairs  act  Thou,  nor  let  the  foe, 

Who  well  I  know 
With  craft  and  wrath  is  working  hour  by  hour, 

Me  e'er  deceive,  or  e'er  bereave 
Of  Thy  dear  Presence  that  benumbs  his  power. 

For  burnt  not  once  that  heart  of  Thine 

With  love  divine 
Thinking  on  all  our  pain  and  loss  ? 
'Twas  no  light  thing  Thou  didst  for  us, 

Accepting  thus 
So  willingly  the  anguish  of  the  cross. 
Bearing  the  woes  of  death  and  sin 

For  us  to  win 
The  life  the  Father  had  decreed 

For  sinful  man,  e'er  time  began  : — 
Ah !  let  me  reap  the  fruit  of  Thy  sweet  deed  ! 

Lord,  I  have  chosen  the  true  gate. 

Narrow  and  strait, 
And  yet  my  footsteps  often  stray ; 
Bid  me  of  Thy  sore  sorrow  think, 

Nor  dare  to  shrink 
Whate'er  befall,  but  still  press  on  Thy  way. 
Give  me  true  faith  to  persevere 

Through  doubt  and  fear. 
Till  soul  and  body  part  in  death  ; 

Then  let  the  foe  strike  no  last  blow. 
Grant  me  to  yield  to  Thee  in  peace  ray  breath. 

O  may  a  burgher's  right  in  heaven 

To  us  be  given 
Of  Thy  free  grace,  we  cannot  purchase  it. 
And  listen  yet  to  one  more  prayer. 

Spare  Thou,  O  spare 
My  brother's  soul,  which  I  to  Thee  commit ; 


128         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Thou  know'st  'tis  not  in  man  to  save, 

Wherefore  I  crave 
Mercy  and  grace  for  all  my  brother  men  ; 
Thou,  if  Thou  wilt,  canst  pardon  guilt ; 
Pardon  and  peace  grant  Thou,  dear  Lord.     Amen, 

It  is  curious  also  to  note  that  now,  for  the  first 
time.  Northern  Germany  furnishes  the  largest  pro- 
portion of  singers ;  hitherto  the  southern  half  of 
Germany  had  claimed  nearly  all  its  literary  and 
poetical  activity, — now  on  the  contrary,  the  North 
supplanted  the  Southern  "Volkslied"  on  its  own 
ground.  But  the  South  could  still  boast  of  possess- 
ing at  Nuremberg  the  best  poet  of  his  day,  the  one 
who  linked  the  times  that  were  passing  to  the  new 
period  that  was  coming  in,  for  he  characteristically 
belonged  to  the  Middle  Ages,  and  yet  was  among 
the  earliest  and  warmest  adherents  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. Nuremberg  itself  was  one  of  the  most  splendid 
results  of  those  ages.  It  was  a  great  free  city,  whose 
social  polity  was  the  pride  of  its  citizens  and  the 
admiration  of  strangers,  wealthy,  and  full  of  stirring 
and  successful  commercial  enterprise ;  the  home  of 
the  great  mechanical  and  scientific  inventions  of  the 
day  ;  and  rich  in  treasures  of  Gothic  art  in  its  streets 
and  churches.  Martin  Schon  was  engraving,  and 
Albert  Durer  was  painting  there,  where,  according  to 
the  old  doggrel  rhyme — 

"  Hans  Sachs,  who  was  a  shoe- 
Maker,  and  a  poet  too," 
was  winding  up  with  his  own  name  the  long  roll  of 
her  "  Master-singers,"    and  opening  the  way  to  the 
new  style  of  modern  poetry.     Hans  Sachs  was  the 
son  of  a  tailor,  and  was  born  in  1494,  during  a  fearful 


HANS  SACHS.  129 


epidemic  of  the  plague.  His  parents  were  industrious, 
God-fearing  people,  who  early  sent  him  to  the  gram- 
mar-school ;  but  as  his  health  was  not  strong,  they 
thought  it  better  he  should  be  put  to  a  trade  than 
allowed  to  study  as  he  wished.  At  fourteen  accord- 
ingly he  was  apprenticed  to  a  shoemaker,  but  about 
the  same  time  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Leonard 
Nunnenbeck,  who  was  a  weaver  and  also  the  most 
celebrated  "  Master-singer  "  of  the  day.  Nunnenbeck 
remarked  the  boy's  talent,  and  at  once  received  him 
among  his  pupils  ;  and  when,  at  seventeen,  Hans 
Sachs  set  out  on  his  wanderings,  his  object  was  to 
perfect  himself  not  only  in  the  craft  of  shoemaking, 
but  also  in  that  of  verse-making.  He  visited  the 
great  schools  of  his  art  in  Mayence  and  Strasburg, 
and  ere  long  made  such  progress  that  he  himself 
acted  as  teacher  in  Frankfort  and  Munich.  He  was 
a  favourite  everywhere  for  his  talent  and  his  wit,  but 
he  led  a  singularly  pure  and  abstemious  life  ;  and  at 
twenty-two  returned  to  his  native  city,  presented  his 
master-piece  as  a  shoemaker,  and  when  admitted  to 
the  guild,  married,  and  settled  down  in  Nuremberg. 
Here  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  long  life, — for  though  he 
was  a  delicate  child,  he  lived  to  be  eighty-one, — work- 
ing sometimes  at  his  trade,  sometimes  giving  instruction 
in  the  art  of  composition,  more  often  engaged  on  his 
own  compositions.  These  earned  him  in  his  own  day 
great  renown  and  a  wide  popularity,  and  he  was  the 
first  author  who  lived  to  see  a  complete  collected 
edition  of  his  own  works.  It  was  published  at  Nurem- 
berg in  1558,  in  five  folio  volumes.  He  was  indeed 
a  most  prolific  writer,  surpassed  only  by  Lopes 
de  Vega,  for  he  published  more  than  six  thousand 

S.L.  VI,  K 


I30  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

poems,  of  course  of  very  varying  excellence.  Almost 
every  style  of  poetry,  except  the  dramatic  which  he 
but  slightly  attempted,  is  largely  represented  among 
them, — lyrical,  narrative,  satirical,  humorous  and 
earnest.  His  highest  merit,  which  won  for  him  the 
admiration  of  Goethe,  lay  in  his  short  tales,  many  of 
which  are  comic,  though  all  have  some  moral  point, 
and  which  are  told  with  a  spirit  and  huhiour,  a  freshness 
and  pathos  that  both  render  them  attractive  in  them- 
selves and  valuable  as  a  vivid  picture  of  the  life  of  his 
times.  The  greater  number  of  his  more  humorous 
poems  belong  to  his  later  years ;  most  of  his  earlier 
ones  are  serious — first  love-songs  of  a  very  pure  and 
domestic  character,  then  poems  chiefly  of  the  political 
and  religious  class.  Such  works,  handling  the  most 
important  topics  of  the  day  and  circulated  on  broad- 
sheets as  fast  as  they  were  written,  helped  to  form  the 
public  opinion  of  the  times  as  powerfully  as  news- 
papers do  now,  and  it  was  no  slight  gain  to  the  cause 
of  the  Reformation  that  so  ready  and  favourite  a  writer 
should  from  the  first  have  taken  that  side.  In  1523 
he  published  a  poem  which  soon  spread  all  over 
Germany,  called  the  "Nightingale  of  Wittenberg." 
It  described  the  state  of  Christendom,  by  picturing 
the  miseries  of  a  poor  flock  of  sheep  which  have 
fallen  among  wolves,  and  are  especially  exposed  to  the 
rapacity  of  a  lion  (Leo  X.),  who  had  craftily  under- 
taken to  defend  them.  Suddenly  they  hear  the 
clear  notes  of  a  nightingale,  foretelling  the  day-dawn, 
and  the  sheep  who  follow  this  voice  are  led  out  into  a 
lovely  sunny,  safe  meadow.  His  keen,  shrewd  right- 
mindedness  made  him  appreciate  how  great  an 
influence  the  new  mode  of  thought  would  inevitably 


HANS  SACHS.  131 


exercise  on  the  domestic  life,  and  also  on  the  social 
and  political  condition  of  the  nation  ;  and  hence  many 
of  his  poems  take  up  the  questions  of  the  honourable- 
ness  of  marriage,  the  necessity  of  concession  on  the  part 
of  the  rulers,  and  of  love  of  the  commonwealth  and 
readiness  to  make  sacrifices  for  it  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  Germany.  He  saw,  too,  the  dangers  of 
discord  and  quarrels  among  the  Reformers ;  and 
when  Luther  dies,  he  represents  Theology  as  weeping 
over  the  coffin  of  the  man  of  God,  and  mourning  the 
treatment  she  receives  at  the  hands  of  presumptuous 
sectaries.  He  comforts  her  by  telling  her  that  she  has 
yet  defenders  left,  and  that  Luther's  doctrine  has  at 
least  put  an  end  for  ever  to  all  the  monkey-tricks  of 
relics  and  shrines,  pretended  miracles  and  indulgences. 
But  he  does  not  conceal  his  fears  of  the  dissensions 
among  Christians  themselves,  and  exhorts  them  to 
hold  fast  by  the  pure  Gospel :  "  Love  God  above  all, 
and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself;  against  that  doctrine 
ban  and  edict,  clergy  and  laity,  school  and  preaching, 
monks  and  old  women,  will  alike  be  powerless." 

The  most  famous  of  his  hymns  is  one  that  he  wrote 
during  the  terrible  siege  of  Nuremberg  in  1561  : — 
"Why  art  thou  thus  cast  down,  my  heart  ?"^  Of  his 
others  we  give  two ;  the  first  is  called 

A  FAIR  MELODY:    TO  BE  SUNG  BY  GOOD 
CHRISTIANS. 

Awake,  my  heart's  delight,  awake 

Thou  Christian  host,  and  hear 
These  tones  that  lovely  music  make, 

God's  Word  most  pure  and  clear, 

^  "  Warum  betriibst  du  dich  mein  Herz." 
K   2 


132.         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

That  now  is  sweetly  sounding, 
While  dawn  is  piercing  through  the  night 
Through  God's  dear  love  abounding. 

The  prophets'  message  now  at  last 

Our  ears  may  hear  again, 
Locked  up  theremth  in  silence  fast 

Long  had  the  Gospel  lain ; 
But  now  we  hear  their  voices, 
And  many  an  anxious  burdened  soul 
In  freedom  now  rejoices. 

For  conscience  lay  oppressed  and  bound 
By  bans  and  men's  commands, 

Soul-traps  and  nets  were  all  around; 
But  now  our  German  lands, 

Behold  the  sun  is  risen. 
And  those  foul  shapes  were  ghosts  and  lies. 

And  dare  to  burst  their  prison. 

Christ  sends  us  many  messengers 

His  gospel  to  proclaim. 
And  all  the  realm  of  darkness  stirs 

To  work  them  death  or  shame, 
And  quench  the  Truth  in  error ; — 
O  Christendom,  thou  Bride  of  God, 
Fear  not  for  all  their  terror ! 

Trust  thou  in  flattering  tongues  no  more, 
Though  many  they  may  be ; 

All  human  teachings  dread  thou  sore, 
Though  good  they  seem  to  thee ; 

But  put  thy  whole  affiance 
In  God's  good-will  and  holy  Word, 

There  is  our  one  reliance. 


HANS  SACHS.  133 


There  yield  thy  heart  and  soul  entire, 

What  it  commands  is  good ; 
Where  it  forbids  let  no  desire 
E'er  stir  within  thy  blood ; 
AVhere  it  allows,  maintain  thou 
Thy  Christian  freedom  as  Paul  saith. 
Yet  from  offence  refrain  thou. 

The  Word  will  save  thee  from  the  smart 
,  Of  sin  and  pains  of  hell, 

If  thou  believe  it  with  thy  heart 

No  evil  there  can  dwell ; 
'Twill  make  thee  pure  and  holy, 
And  teach  thee  that  in  Jesus  lies 
Our  hope  and  comfort  solely. 

Blest  be  the  day  and  blest  the  hour 

When  thou  didst  see  revealed 
The  Word  of  God  in  all  its  power, 

The  soul's  true  strength  and  shield ; 
Let  nought  to  thee  be  dearer 
In  heaven  or  earth,  no  creature-love 
E'er  to  thy  heart  be  nearer. 

O  Christendom,  here  give  thou  heed, 

By  no  false  lore  perjjlexed, 
Here  seek  and  find  true  life  indeed 

For  this  world  and  the  next ; 
For  he  who  dies  believing 
In  Christ  alone,  shall  live  with  Him, 
His  heavenly  joys  receiving. 

As  this  poem  makes  us  understand  what  many  men 
must  have  felt  when  the  Gospel  was  once  more  made 
accessible  to  theni  in  their  own  language,  and  without 


134         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

the  intervention  of  "  men's  devices,"  so  the  next  Httle 
song  expresses  that  trust  in  Christ  as  the  only- 
Mediator  and  channel  of  salvation,  which  had  been 
long  obscured  by  teachings  about  the  Virgin  and  the 
saints. 

THE  MEDIATOR. 

O  Christ,  true  Son  of  God  most  high, 

Thy  name  we  praise  for  ever ; 
Whoe'er  to  Thee  for  help  doth  cry 
Shall  find  Thee  fail  him  never  ; 
'Tis  Thou  wilt  plead, 
Thou  intercede 
With  God,  for  us  who  need  Thy  prayers  so  sore : 
Thy  bitter  strife 
Hath  wrought  us  life. 
And  Thine  be  thanks  and  praise  for  evermore  ! 

To  Thee  the  Father  giveth  now 

All  power  in  earth  and  heaven ; 
Sin,  Satan,  Death  to  Thee  must  bow, 
All  fetters  Thou  hast  riven. 
Bade  fear  to  cease. 
And  made  our  peace, 
That  now  to  God  we  dare  our  hearts  outpour  : 
Thy  bitter  strife 
Hath  ^vrought  us  life, 
And  Thine  be  thanks  and  praise  for  evermore  ! 

Fulness  of  grace  is  in  Thy  Word  ; 

The  Life,  the  Truth,  the  Way 
To  life  eternal  art  Thou,  Lord ; 
To  Thee  alone  we  pray. 
Who  didst  appear 
A  servant  here 


BOHEMIAN  BRETHREN.  135 

To  bear  the  sin  that  crushed  the  world  before : 

Thy  bitter  strife 

Hath  -wrought  us  life, 
And  Thine  be  thanks  and  praise  for  evermore  ! 

Another  link  between  the  religious  poetry  of  the 
Reformation  and  of  that  preceding  age,  was  the 
hymnology  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  which  often 
reminds  us  in  tone  of  the  mediaeval  Latin  hymns. 
These  Brethren  were  the  remains  of  an  ancient 
Slavonic  Christianity,  which  owed  its  origin  to  the 
teaching  of  two  Greek  monks  in  the  ninth  century, 
and  was  in  existence  before  the  papal  authority  and 
Roman  liturgy  found  their  way  to  Bohemia.  Through- 
out the  Middle  Ages  a  tacit  struggle  existed  between 
these  two  elements ;  the  Roman  prevailed,  but  the 
earlier  Greek  still  showed  itself  in  the  demand  of 
the  people  for  the  possession  of  the  Scriptures  and 
the  performance  of  worship  in  the  vernacular  ;  and  it 
was  in  a  great  measure  due  to  his  meeting  this  want 
that  the  doctrines  of  Huss  were  so  readily  received. 
At  last  the  smouldering  conflict  burst  into  open 
warfare,  which  raged  at  intervals  throughout  the 
fifteenth  century.  It  was  a  terrible  war,  embittered 
by  the  animosities  alike  of  religion  and  race — a 
history  of  virulent  and  unrelenting  persecution  on 
one  side,  and  of  cruel  retaliations  on  the  other.  At 
last  a  peace  was  made;  the  Hussites  withdrew  to  t>he 
borders  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  and  maintained  a 
precarious  existence,  until  the  scanty  remnants  found 
a  refuge  in  Saxony  in  1725. 

When  the  Reformation  began,  the  Bohemian 
Brethren  were  among  the  first  to  hail   it ;   as  early 


136         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

as  1522  they  sent  messengers  to  Luther  to  wish  him 
success,  and  confer  with  him  on  questions  of  church 
discipline.  One  of  these  was  Michael  Weiss,  who 
afterwards  became  the  pastor  of  the  German-speaking 
congregations  of  Landskron  and  Fulnek,  and  for 
their  benefit  translated  into  German  the  finest  of  the 
Bohemian  hymns,  adding  some  of  his  own.  Luther 
greatly  admired  and  highly  recommended  this  hymn- 
book  ;  it  was  republished  with  further  additions  by 
their  Bishop,  John  Horn,  in  1540,  and  passed  through 
many  editions  both  in  Germany  and  Holland.  Its 
contents  are  of  various  kinds :  some  are  entitled 
•"  Hymns  of  Instruction,"  and  were  designed  to  put 
the  great  truths  of  Christianity  and  the  chief  events 
of  the  Gospel  history,  into  a  form  in  which  they 
might  be  easily  understood  and  retained  by  unlettered 
minds;  others  are  liturgical,  adapted  to  the  festivals 
of  the  Church,  or  morning  and  evening  prayer, 
and  among  these  many  are  antiphons,  often  of  very 
elaborate  structure,  intended  to  be  sung  alternately 
by  priest  and  people  ;  others  again  are  simply  hymns 
of  Christian  experience.  The  versification  is  fluent 
and  musical,  reminding  us  that  the  Bohemian  race 
has  always  been  distinguished  by  its  musical  gifts  : 
the  tone  has  no  fierceness,  but  much  tenderness  and 
earnestness  ;  and  the  frequent  references  to  persecu- 
tion only  implore  steadfastness  and  protection,  never 
vengeance.  The  Christian  sacrifice  of  entire  self- 
surrender  to  God,  the  union  of  the  Church  in  Christ, 
reliance  on  God  in  trouble, — these  thoughts,  which  the 
circumstances  of  their  own  career  must  have  brought 
very  close  to  their  hearts,  meet  us  again  and  again 
in  their  hymns.     The  following  is 


BOHEMIAN  BRETHREN.  137 

AN  ANTIPHON  ON  THE  PRAISE  OF  GOD. 

Priest. 
Praise,  glory,  thanks,  be  ever  paid 
To  God  the  Father  who  hath  all  things  made, 

And  to  the  Son, 
Who  hath  atoned  for  all  that  we  have  done  ; 
And  to  the  Holy  Ghost  be  honour  due. 
Who  the  dead  soul  can  with  His  gifts  renew, 

And  doth  impart 
God's  holy  law  to  every  chosen  heart. 

Response. 
To  this  one  God,  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth, 

Be  now  and  evermore 
Glory  and  praise  from  all  the  hosts  of  heaven, 

Resounding  o'er  and  o'er ; 
While  all  the  realm  of  earth, 
All  tribes  of  human  birth. 
Sing  of  His  greatness  and  His  light, 
His  mercy,  holiness,  and  might. 

Priest. 
Who,  Lord,  by  searching  e'er  shall  find  out  Thee, 
Who  fathom  Thy  dread  Being's  mystery  ? 

Resist  Thy  might. 
Or  hide  from  Thee  and  Thine  all-piercing  sight  ? 
What  is  there  that  can  live  without  Thy  care. 
Of  all  that  swim  the  waves  and  fly  in  air, 

Or  man  or  beast  ? 
For  all  'tis  Thou  must  spread  the  constant  feast. 

Response. 
O  God,  Almighty  Lord  of  Sabaoth  ! 

'Tis  Thou  dost  reign  ; 
And  the  whole  world  in  shape  and  order  due 

Thou  dost  maintain ; 
Beauty  and  fruitfulness  are  Thine, 


138         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

'Tis  Thou  dost  bid  the  heavens  to  shine, 
Or  sendest  showers,  or  storm,  or  gloom  ; 
From  Thee  all  life  and  motion  come. 

Priest, 

Who,  Lord,  of  us,  with  thought  and  tongue  so  weak. 
Shall  rightly  of  the  wondrous  kindness  speak 

Which  Thy  dear  Son 
At  Thy  will  doeth  to  us,  and  hath  done  ? 
For  didst  Thou  not  to  us  Thy  dearest  give. 
And  promise  that  in  Him  we  all  should  live, 

From  death  set  free, 
And  sin  and  Satan, — and  at  peace  with  Thee  ? 

Resp07ise. 
O  God,  how  great  to  us,  the  sin-opprest. 

Hath  been  Thy  love  ! 
In  Christ  Thy  Son  Thou  leadest  us  to  rest. 

Bidding  us  prove 
True  conquerors  o'er  the  world,  the  flesh, 
The  sin  that  ever  tempts  afresh ; 
Clothed  in  faith's  armour,  called  to  be 
Knights  of  a  heavenly  chivalry. 

Priest. 
Therefore,  O  Father,  we  Thy  wisdom  praise. 
And  ever  thankful  songs  to  Thee  will  raise, 

Who  through  Thy  Son 
For  this  Thy  little  flock  so  much  hast  done ; 
O  rule  it  by  Thy  Spirit  from  on  high. 
And  if  with  much  temptation  Thou  dost  try, 

Grant  it  to  shine 
Here  and  hereafter  as  of  gold  most  fine. 

Response. 
Rejoice,  ye  Christ-believing  host,  fear  nought, 
Your  cause  is  won  ! 


BOHEMIAN  BRETHREN.  139 

For  Christ,  true  Man  and  God,  for  you  hath  fought, 
And  all  is  done. 
His  is  the  Name  o'er  every  name ; 
He  can  of  right  all  honour  claim ; 
To  Him  be  praise  and  thanks  again, 
Now  and  for  evermore  :  Amen. 

The  next  is  a 

HYMN  FOR  THE  TRIED. 

Lord,  to  Thy  chosen  ones  apppear. 
Gladden  weak  hearts  weighed  down  by  fear. 
Let  Thy  Word's  light,  a  guiding  Star, 
Arise  on  those  who  dwell  afar. 

Let  none  who  seek  Thee  faint  or  tire, 
But  still  press  on  with  warm  desire, 
Shunning  whate'er  Thou  dost  condemn, 
That  Satan  have  no  part  in  them. 

Bid  them  Thy  easy  yoke  to  know, 
Patient  alike  in  joy  and  woe ; 
In  spirit,  soul,  and  body  still 
Wholly  surrendered  to  Thy  will. 

We  yield,  O  Thou  true  Life,  to  Thee, 
Wealth,  honour,  all  things,  utterly, 
Fixing  our  hearts  on  Thee  alone ; 
O  God  Supreme,  be  Thou  our  own  ! 

The  last  is  one  of  a  class  of  hymns  for  which  tl^ey 
are  celebrated — morning  and  evening  hymns. 

AN  EVENING  HYMN. 

Now  God  be  with  us,  for  the  night  is  closing. 
The  light  and  darkness  are  of  His  disposing ; 
And  'neath  His  shadow  here  to  rest  we  yield  us. 
For  He  will  shield  us. 


I40        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Let  evil  thoughts  and  spirits  flee  before  us ; 
Till  morning  cometh,  watch,  O  Master,  o'er  us  ; 
In  soul  and  body  Thou  from  harm  defend  us, 
Thine  angels  send  us. 

Let  holy  thoughts  be  ours  when  sleep  o'ertakes  us. 
Our  earliest  thoughts  be  Thine  when  morning  wakes  us  ; 
All  day  serve  Thee,  in  all  that  we  are  doing, 
Thy  praise  pursuing. 

As  Thy  beloved,  soothe  the  sick  and  weeping, 
And  bid  the  prisoner  lose  his  griefs  in  sleeping ; 
Widows  and  orphans  we  to  Thee  commend  them, 
Do  Thou  befriend  them. 

We  have  no  refuge,  none  on  earth  to  aid  us, 
Save  Thee,  O  Father,  who  Thine  own  hast  made  us ; 
But  Thy  dear  presence  will  not  leave  them  lonely 
Who  seek  Thee  only. 

Father,  Thy  name  be  praised.  Thy  kingdom  given, 
Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  'tis  in  heaven ; 
Keep  us  in  life,  forgive  our  sins,  deliver 
Us  now  and  ever.     Amen. 

Two  more  singers  of  this  period  must  be  named 
here,  because  they  as  distinctively  connect  this  age 
with  the  coming  one,  as  Hans  Sachs  did  with  the 
past.  They  were  fast  friends  and  fellow-helpers, — 
the  pastor  and  precentor  of  Joachimsthal,  Johann 
Matthesius  and  Nicolas  Hermann.  Joachimsthal  was  a 
large  village  in  the  mountainous  border-land  between 
Saxony  and  Bohemia  ;  mines  had  lately  been  disco- 
vered in  its  neighbourhood,  and  it  was  rapidly  growing 
into  a  prosperous  little  town ;  it  had  embraced  the 
Reformed    religion,    and    was    distinguished    by    its 


JOHANN  MATTHESIUS.  141 

good  schools.     Here  for  many  years  Matthesius  and 
Hermann  led  such  a  life  as,  happily  for  Germany, 
has  been  characteristic  of  many  of  her  secluded  dis- 
tricts since  the  Reformation, — quiet  as   to   outward 
tenor  amid  those  eventful  times,  hardworking  in  the 
cause   of  religion  and  education,  homely  in  its  cir- 
cumstances, yet  linked  to   the  wider  world  and  the 
best  life  of  its  time  by  its  religious  thought  and  its 
culture  of  poetry  and  music.     The  two  friends  were 
very   unlike.     Matthesius    had    been    converted    by 
reading  accidentally  some  of  Luther's  tracts,  and  left 
the  grammar-school  of  Joachimsthal  of  which  he  was 
rector,   to  become   again   a   student   at   Wittenberg, 
and  hear  the  lectures   of  Melancthon   and   Luther. 
Justus  Jonas  introduced  him  to  Luther,  who  "invited 
him  to  become  one  of  the  regular  guests  at  his  table, 
and   ere  long   admitted   him   to  his   most   intimate 
friendship.      Luther  very   soon   urged   him   to  take 
orders,  for  which  indeed  he  was  well  qualified,  for  he 
was  a  man  of  ability,  of  great  piety,  and  had  a  gift  of 
singularly  persuasive  eloquence ;  but  he  was  so  self- 
distrustful,  that   on   his  first   attempt  to   preach   he 
ascended  the  pulpit  three  times  without  being  able  to 
bring  out  a  single  word ;  and  it  was  only  Luther's  almost 
vehement  insistance  that  induced  him  to  make  one 
more  effort,  when  he  gave  "  a  capital  glorious  sermon," 
as  Luther  says.     He  sympathised  with  Luther  too  in 
his  love  and  practice  of  music,  and  after  Luther's  death 
wrote  a  biography  of  him,  which  is  still  a  standard 
work.     From  Wittenberg  he   returned   as  pastor  to 
Joachimsthal,  where  he  laboured  for  the  rest  of  his 
life,   greatly   cherished  by  its   somewhat  rough  and 
mixed   population,   who    were  very   proud   of  their 


142         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

pastor's  eloquence  and  singularly  pious  and  charitable 
life.  Yet  though  outwardly  smooth,  life  was  no  easy 
thing  for  him :  he  suffered  much  from  the  cares  of  a 
large  family,  especially  after  the  death  of  his  helpful 
wife ;  and  from  mental  and  spiritual  conflicts,  which 
at  times  seriously  affected  his  health.  He  died  as  he 
had  often  wished,  in  harness,  being  seized  with  a  fit  at 
the  conclusion  of  a  sermon.  He  wrote  various  devo- 
tional works,  and  some  very  good  and  sweet  hymns  ; 
of  which  several  for  the  morning,  for  marriage,  a 
cradle  hymn,  and  for  the  miners,  became  very 
popular.  But  his  influence  on  literature  was  not  so 
great  as  that  of  his  friend,  who  was  precentor  and 
organist  of  the  church  and  master  of  the  schools. 
The  portrait  of  Nicolas  Hermann  in  the  library  at 
Nuremberg  shows  a  handsome,  genial,  yet  shrewd- 
looking  old  man,  and  such  he  seems  to  have  been 
— a  man  who  threw  himself  wholly  into  the  life 
of  the  people  around  him,  and  found  interest  and 
happiness  in  it.  Few  of  his  hymns  and  poems  are 
intended  or  adapted  for  the  Church ;  they  are  meant 
for  his  school  children ;  for  the  girls  and  young  men 
to  sing,  instead  of  profane  songs ;  for  the  occasions 
of  domestic  and  daily  life ;  or  for  the  perils  and 
varying  fortunes  of  a  miner's  hazardous  calling.  But 
he  had  a  fatal  facility  of  versification,  and  many 
of  his  poems  are  spoilt  by  their  length,  while  others 
are  but  rhymed  versions  of  some  of  Matthesius's 
sermons ;  yet  his  best  show  that  he  had  in  good 
measure  the  real  gift  of  song,  and  mark  a  new  style 
in  German  hymnology,  not  the  grave  and  lofty  tone 
that  had  been  caught  from  the  Psalms  of  David,  but 
the  simple,  earnest,  picturesque  manner  of  the  popular 


NICOLAS  HERMANN.  143 

songs.  He  was  a  passionate  lover  of  music,  and 
when  old  and  infirm  could  picture  heaven  to  himself 
no  otherwise  than  as  a  place  of  delicious  and  joyful 
harmony.  He  writes  once :  "  Every  organist  or 
lutanist  in  that  life  too  will  take  some  holy  text, 
and  strike  upon  his  organ  or  his  lute ;  and  every  one 
will  be  able  to  sing  at  sight  and  by  himself  four  or 
five  different  parts.  There  will  be  no  more  confusion 
and  mistakes,  which  now  often  put  many  a  good 
musician  quite  out  of  heart,  especially  when  he  has 
to  begin  again  several  times  over."  He  died  in  1561. 
The  hymns  of  these  authors  most  frequently  to  be 
met  with,  are  of  course  those  adapted  to  Church  use. 
A  morning  hymn  by  Matthesius — 

"  My  inmost  heart  now  raises, 
In  this  fair  morning  hour, 
A  hymn  of  thankful  praises 
To  God's  almighty  power  " — 

was  the  favourite  morning  hymnof  Gustavus  Adolphus. 
Many  of  Nicolas  Hermann's  hymns  are  to  be  found 
in  all  German  hymn-books.  One  of  these  is  the 
following 

HYMN  FOR  THE  DYING. 

When  my  last  hour  is  close  at  hand, 

And  I  must  hence  betake  me, 
Lord  Jesu  Christ  beside  me  stand, 

Nor  let  Thy  help  forsake  me. 
To  Thee  my  soul  I  now  commit, 
And  safely  wilt  Thou  cherish  it 

Until  again  Thou  wake  me. 


144         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Conscience  may  sting  my  memory  sore, 
And  guilt  my  heart  encumber  ; 

But  though  as  sands  upon  the  shore 
My  sins  may  be  in  number, 

I  will  not  quail,  but  think  of  Thee, 

Thy  death,  Thy  sorrows,  borne  for  me, 
And  sink  in  peace  to  slumber. 

I  have  been  grafted  in  the  Vine, 
And  hence  my  comfort  borrow  ; 

For  surely  Thou  wilt  keep  me  Thine 
Through  utmost  pain  and  sorrow; 

Yea,  though  1  die,  I  die  in  Thee, 

Who  through  Thy  death  hast  won  for  me 
Heaven's  bright  eternal  morrow. 

Since  Thou  from  death  didst  rise  again, 
In  death  Thou  wilt  not  leave  me  ; 

Thy  life  declares  my  fears  are  vain. 
And  doubts  no  more  shall  grieve  me, 

For  Thou  wilt  have  me  where  Thou  art : 

And  so  with  joy  I  can  depart, 
And  know  Thou  wilt  receive  me. 

And  so  I  stretch  mine  arms  to  Thee, 
Now,  O  dear  Jesu,  take  me  ! 

Peaceful  and  calm  my  sleep  shall  be. 
No  human  voice  shall  wake  me, 

But  Thou  wilt  ope  the  heavenly  door 

To  life  and  joy  for  evermore, 

Thou,  who  dost  ne'er  forsake  me  ! 

And  of  Matthesius  we  give  this 

MINER'S  SONG. 
O  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 
Thou  God,  dost  fix  the  miner's  post, 


MINER'S  SONG.  145 


Thy  Word  hath  made  the  wondrous  store 
Of  rock,  and  earth,  and  precious  ore. 

Good  metal  is  a  gift  from  Thee, 
'Tis  ours  to  use  it  honestly 
For  God  and  country,  as  'tis  fit, 
Not  give  it  our  hearts  and  worship  it. 

Who  sees  God  in  the  precious  stone, 
Works  truly,  prays  to  Him  alone. 
Believes  in  Christ  with  all  his  heart. 
He  doth  the  Christian  miner's  part. 

God,  who  created  St  quartz  and  sand. 
Change  them  to  ore  in  this  our  land ; 
Thy  blessing  guide  us  where  to  find. 
Thy  Spirit  give  the  wise  clear  mind. 

Who  hath  Thee,  knows  Thy  word  and  love 
Better  than  much  fine  gold  shall  prove  ; 
Thy  meanest  gift  is  goods  and  gold, 
Christ  is  the  mine  of  wealth  untold. 

At  Zarephath  a  smelter's  wife 
Maintained  of  old  the  prophet's  life, 
Believed  his  word,  had  peace  and  rest. 
And  God's  dear  blessing  with  her  guest 

So  we  commend.  Lord,  to  Thy  grace 
Thy  Httle  Church  within  this  place  ; 
It  hath  received  and  keeps  Thy  Word, 
Repay  it  with  true  prophets,  Lord. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


AN    INTERVAL. 


A.D.    1560 — 1616. 


The  later  years  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  opening  of 
the  seventeenth  century  are  by  no  means  so  rich  in 
hymn-writers  as  the  era  of  the  Reformation  itself. 
Not  that  there  was  any  diminution  in  the  quantity  of 
religious  poetry,  but  the  quality  grew  much  poorer 
and  thinner,  and  it  fell  chiefly  into  the  hands  of  pro- 
fessional authors,  instead  of  springing  up  all  over  the 
country  out  of  the  heart  of  the  people.  Still  this 
period,  too,  has  some  very  good  and  fine  hymns,  but  a 
marked  change  of  tone  is  perceptible  in  most  of  them  ; 
they  are  no  longer  filled  with  the  joyful  welcome  of 
a  new  day,  they  more  often  lament  the  wickedness  of 
the  age,  and  anticipate  coming  evil  times  or  the  end  of 
the  world  itself.  And  yet  that  age,  so  far  from  being 
at  all  particularly  wicked  or  calamitous,  was  a  time  on 
the  whole  of  peace  and  prosperity.  Pestilences  did  in- 
deed visit  Germany  at  intervals,  as  in  1563  and  1597, 
but  this  was  no  new  thing ;  such  outbreaks  occur 
periodically  throughout  the  previous  centuries.  In 
other  respects  Germany  was  making  rapid  progress, 
both   material  and   mental.     In  the  course  of  a  few 


PROGRESS  OF  GERMANY.  147 


years  after  the  peace  of  Passau,  the  Reformed  religion 
had  spread  over  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  country, 
including  all  the  most  populous  and  active  regions  ; 
while  in  literature  so  great  a  change  had  taken  place, 
that  whereas  a  work  of  the  fifteenth  century  seems  far 
away  from  us  both  in  thought  and  language,  a  work 
from  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  is  written  nearly 
in  the  same  German  that  is  used  now,  and  breathes 
comparatively  the  spirit  of  modern  life.  The  great 
idea  that  every  man  is  personally  responsible  for  his 
belief  and  his  actions  to  God  Himself,  was  making 
itself  felt  in  every  field,  breaking  up  old  organizations 
and  the  orderly  but  rigid  routine  of  mediaeval  life, 
prompting  to  new  enterprises,  inspiring  men  with 
courage  to  bear  imprisonment,  exile,  or  death  for  their 
faith.  But  it  had  brought  its  dangers  and  difficulties 
too,  not  only  in  the  actual  persecutions  and  wars  which, 
though  on  a  very  limited  scale,  existed  throughout  this 
period  until  they  culminated  in  the  great  struggle  of 
the  Thirty  Years'  War  ;  but  still  more  in  an  excessive 
individualism  which  rendered  common  action  almost 
impossible.  For  the  new  mode  of  thought  gave 
rise  to  mental  conflicts  and  doubts  and  scruples 
of  conscience,  for  which  there  was  no  longer  the 
easy  resolution  of  an  authoritative  decision  of  Church 
or  priest,  and  which  saddened  the  lives  of  many 
whom  we  should  not  now  call  specially  religious 
persons  ;  and  it  brought  endless  disputes  on  doctrinal 
questions  among  the  professors  of  the  evangelical 
faith  themselves.  Over  the  temporary  compromise 
between  the  Romanist  and  Protestant  religions,  known 
as  "the  Interim;"  over  every  shade  of  more  or  less 
Calvinistic  views  of  the  Atonement  and  the  Sacra- 

L  2 


148         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

ments,  they  quarrelled,  not  in  words  only  but  deeds : 
men  were  deprived  of  their  offices  or  salaries,  banished 
from  one  State  to  another,  or  excluded  from  the 
Lord's  Supper  and  from  the  privilege  of  sponsorship. 
The  political  circumstances  of  the  day  bore  the  same 
impress  of  lack  of  unity.  Germany  was  broken  up 
into  a  multitude  of  little  States,  without  a  real  centre 
of  authority,  and  with  no  clearly  defined  relations 
between  the  princes  and  people  within  each  State. 
Against  all  this  division  was  ranged  the  growing 
power  of  the  Order  of  the  Jesuits  on  the  religious  side, 
and  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  on  the  political ;  two 
powers  that  indeed  represented  unity,  but  unity 
springing  from  and  leading  back  to  despotism,  and 
which  soon  formed  a  close  and  mighty  alliance.  It 
might  well  be  that  to  thoughtful  men  the  future 
looked  dark. 

Out  of  this  time  we  choose  Ambrose  Lobwasser, 
Bartholomew  Ringwaldt,  Selnecker,  and  Helmboldt 
as  the  men  who  best  represent  its  religious  poetry.^ 
Lobwasser  was  a  professor  of  jurisprudence  at  Kon- 
igsberg,  and  had  strong  leanings  to  the  Calvinistic 
Church,  though  not  actually  belonging  to  it.  He 
made  a  complete  translation  of  the  French  Psalter  of 
Marot  and  Beza,  which  was  published  with  Goudimel's 
melodies  in  1573,  and  went  through  many  subsequent 

1  It  should  be  remarked  that  it  was  during  this  period  that  two  men 
wrote,  whose  prose  works  powerfully  affected  the  religious  life  of 
Germany.  One  was  the  mystic,  Jacob  Bohme  (died  in  1624),  whose 
influence  becomes  apparent  in  the  literature  of  the  period  following  the 
Thirty  Years'  War.  The  other  was  Johann  Arndt  (died  1621),  whose 
works  on  the  Christian  Life — the  "  True  Christianity,"  and  "  Garden  of 
Paradise " — were  the  favourite  devotional  reading  of  all  earnest 
Christians  in  Germany  for  more  than  a  hundred  years. 


BARTHOLOMEW  RINGWALDT.  149 

editions.  It  is  noticeable  chiefly  because  it  long 
remained  the  recognised  psalter,  like  Sternhold  and 
Hopkins  with  us,  and  was  the  only  hymn-book 
admitted  to  use  in  public  worship  by  the  Calvinistic 
churches.  Otherwise  its  poetical  merits  are  very 
small ;  it  does  not  rise  above  the  level  of  a  sort  of 
rhymed  prose,  and  it  furnished  an  unfortunate  model 
for  a  flood  of  very  prosaic  rhymed  paraphrases  of 
doctrinal  statements  or  passages  of  Scripture,  which 
become  wonderfully  numerous  at  this  time. 

Ringwaldt  was  the  author  of  the  hymn  so  well 
known  in  England  under  the  mistaken  title  of 
"Luther's  Hymn,"— 

"  Great  God,  what  do  I  see  and  hear, 
The  end  of  things  created," — 

which  is  in  fact  a  quotation  rather  freely  handled 
from  a  celebrated  hymn  of  his  on  the  Second  Advent 
to  Judgment.  He  was  a  native  of  Frankfort-on-the- 
Oder;  a  man  of  cheerful,  courageous,  genial  spirit, 
whose  life  was  passed  as  the  pastor  of  a  little  place 
called  Langfeldt,  where  he  died  in  1598.  But  his 
many  hymns  and  religious  works  strongly  illustrate 
what  has  bee  nsaid  of  the  tone  of  feeling  at  that 
time,  for  they  are  generally  penitential,  or  filled  with 
warnings  of  the  coming  judgment.  Among  the  best 
of  the  former  is  the  following  : — 

PENITENCE. 

Lord  Jesu  Christ,  my  Highest  Good, 

Thou  Fountain  of  all  grace, 
Behold  how  heavy  is  my  mood, 

As  I  my  past  retrace. 


150         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

How  sore  my  conscience  is  beset 
With  keenest  arrows  of  regret, 
That  never  cease  to  pierce  me. 

Alas  !  when  I  remember  all 
The  life  I  once  held  dear, 

A  stone  upon  my  heart  doth  fall, 
And  I  must  quail  for  fear, 

I  know  not  where  to  take  my  flight ; 

Ah  Lord  !  I  must  despair  outright, 
But  for  Thy  word  of  mercy. 

But  when  I  hear  it  sweetly  sing 

Of  peace  for  evermore, 
My  heart  almost  begins  to  spring, 

And  laughs  in  me  once  more. 
To  know  how  merciful  Thou  art 
To  all  who,  with  a  contrite  heart. 

Will  come  to  Thee,  O  Jesus  ! 

So  I,  too,  dare  to  come  to  Thee, 

And  at  Thy  feet  I  lay 
My  burden,  while  with  bended  knee 

And  earnest  heart  I  pray, 
Forgive  me,  heal  my  conscience'  strife, 
For  all  the  sins  of  all  my  life 

Forgive,  dear  Lord,  forgive  me  ! 

Yea,  O  my  God,  forgive  me  now 
For  Thy  Name's  blessed  sake ; 

The  hea^y  yoke  'neath  which  I  bow 
Do  Thou  in  mercy  break. 

So  shall  my  heart  have  peace  at  last, 

And  to  Thy  praise  my  years  be  passed 
In  childlike,  glad  obedience. 


NICHOLAS  SELNECKER.  151 

Thy  joyful  Spirit  give  me  strength, 

Thy  wounds  my  heahng  be, 
When  my  last  hour  must  come  at  length, 

Wash  Thou  my  soul  for  me  ; 
And  take  me  when  it  seems  Thee  best, 
In  the  true  faith  to  heavenly  rest 

For  ever.  Lord,  with  Thee.     Amen. 

The   career  of  Nicholas  Selnecker,  on   the  other 
hand,    affords     an     example    of    that    discord    and 
persecution    among    the    Protestants    of    which   we 
have    spoken.       He    was    a     cultivated,    agreeable, 
and    very   able    man,    springing    from    one    of    the 
oldest   families   of    Nuremberg,   who    prided    them- 
selves on  their   culture.     As  a  boy,  his  remarkable 
musical    gifts    and    personal    beauty   attracted    the 
notice  of  Ferdinand,  King  of  Rome,  and  his  Italian 
confessor;  and  they  laid  a  plan  for  having  the  boy 
kidnapped  and   carried   to  Spain.      Fortunately  his 
father   discovered    it   in   time   to  have   him  secretly 
conveyed    to  Wittenberg,  where  he  was  boarded  in 
the  house  of  Melancthon,      As  a  man,  the  highest 
offices  in  the  Lutheran  Church  were  open  to  him,  and 
he  was  distinguished  by  several  of  the  Evangelical 
sovereigns.     But  he  had  an  acute,  and  singularly  just 
and  candid  mind,  which  inclined  him  to  decided  but 
moderate  views,  and   hence   he  became   a   constant 
mark  for  attack  to  the  extreme  partisans  on  both  sides. 
He  was  incessantly  involved  in  controversy ;  he  was 
seven  times  banished  from  Saxony — whenever,  in  fact, 
the  ultra-Calvinistic  party  got  the  upper  hand — and 
was  seven  times  implored   to  return  ;   while  he  was 
turned  out  of  Jena  and  Brunswick  for  being  too  lenient 


152        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

to  the  Calvinists.  So  the  life  that  might  have  been 
rich  in  value  and  usefulness  was  almost  wasted  in 
fruitless  disputes  and  struggles,  which  were  full  of 
suffering  to  a  man  who  loved  peace,  and  was  keenly 
alive  to  the  dangers  of  disunion.  He  died  in  1592,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-two.  Being  a  great  lover  of  church- 
music,  he  devoted  much  time  and  attention  to  the 
improvement  of  the  German  liturgy,  and  himself 
wrote  several  hymns,  of  which  only  two  short  ones 
can  be  quoted  here.  The  first  is  still  commonly 
used  at  the  close  of  evening  worship : — 

EVENING-TIDE. 
Lord  Jesu  Christ,  with  us  abide. 
For  round  us  falls  the  evening-tide  ; 
Nor  let  Thy  Word,  our  glorious  light, 
For  us  be  ever  quenched  in  night. 

In  these  dark  days  that  yet  remain 
May  we  Thy  sacraments  maintain, 
And  keep  Thy  Word,  still  true  and  pure, 
And  steadfast  in  the  faith  endure  ! 

For  his  own  daily  prayer  he  wrote  this : — 

MORNING  PRAYER. 
Make  me  Thine  own  and  keep  me  Thine, 

Thou  faithful  God  and  Lord  ! 
Let  nought  seduce  this  heart  of  mine 

From  Thee  and  Thy  pure  Word. 

Let  me  ne'er  waver  nor  grow  cold, 

But  give  me  steadfastness ; 
So  shall  I  praise  Thy  grace  untold 

In  heaven's  eternal  bUss. 


LOUIS  HELMBOLDT.  153 


Louis  Helmboldt  belongs  in  age  to  this  date,  but 
in  the  tone  and  power  of  his  compositions  he  is  more 
nearly  akin  to  Luther  and  his  contemporaries.  He 
was,  like  Selnecker  and  Ringu^aldt,  a  native  of  one  of 
the  great  free  cities,  Mulhausen,  where  his  father, 
a  wealthy  woollen  manufacturer,  was  a  senator  and 
had  married  into  one  of  the  neighbouring  noble 
families.  At  fifteen  the  young  Louis  already  went 
to  the  university  of  Erfurt,  and  at  eighteen  his  native 
city  made  him  head-master  of  one  of  its  schools — a 
position,  however,  which  he  found  it  best  to  resign 
in  about  eighteen  months.  He  then  returned  to 
Erfurt,  obtained  a  professorship,  and  for  seventeen 
years  was  Dean  of  the  Philosophical  Faculty.  At 
this  university  there  was  at  that  time  both  a  Romanist 
and  an  Evangelical  party  ;  and  when  the  former  from 
political  circumstances  for  a  while  obtained  the  pre- 
ponderance, Helmboldt,  as  a  leader  of  the  latter,  was 
obliged  to  leave,  to  the  great  indignation  of  the  town 
and  the  students.  He  went  back  to  Mulhausen,  and 
at  the  age  of  forty  took  orders,  and  was  appointed  by 
the  town-council  to  one  of  their  churches,  and  to  the 
rectorship  of  a  great  school ;  and  was  finally  made 
general-superintendent,  an  office  answering  to  that 
of  a  bishop  with  us.  He  was  one  of  the  principal 
poets  of  his  day,  and  published  a  number  of  Latin 
odes  and  elegies,  for  which  the  Emperor  Maximilian, 
at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  awarded  him  the  honours 
and  emoluments  of  poet-laureate.  Of  his  German 
writings  the  odes  are  said  to  be  very  poor,  but  he  was 
a  fertile  song-writer  both  for  the  school  and  home, 
after  the  manner  of  Nicolas  Hermann,  and  for  the 
Church.     One  of  his   hymns  is   to  be  found  in  all 


154  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

German  hymn-books,  and  has  rooted  itself  among 
the  people.  It  was  written  in  1563,  when  a  terrible 
pestilence  attacked  Erfurt,  and  in  the  course  of  a 
year  destroyed  4,000  of  its  inhabitants,  so  that  the 
university  had  to  be  broken  up  for  some  months. 
Helmboldt  gave  this  hymn  to  the  wife  of  one  of  his 
friends,  as  she  was  starting  on  a  hasty  flight  from 
the  city  ;  and  in  most  of  the  old  hymn-books  it  is 
headed — 


THE  TRUE  CHRISTIAN'S  VADE-MECUM. 

From  God  shall  nought  divide  me, 

For  He  is  true  alway, 
And  on  my  path  will  guide  me, 

Where  else  I  oft  should  stray. 

His  ever-bounteous  hand 
At  morn  and  eve  is  heedful 
To  give  me  yfhaX  is  needful 

Where'er  I  go  or  stand. 

If  sorrow  comes,  He  sent  it, 

In  Him  I  put  my  trust ; 
I  never  shall  repent  it, 

For  He  is  true  and  just. 

And  loves  to  bless  us  still. 
My  life  and  soul,  I  owe  them 
To  Him  who  doth  bestow  them  ; 

Let  Him  do  as  He  will. 

Whate'er  may  be  His  pleasure 

Is  surely  best  for  me  ; 
He  gave  His  dearest  treasure 

That  our  weak  hearts  might  see 


LOUIS  HELMBOLDT. 


How  good  His  will  toward  us, 
And  in  His  Son  He  gave  us 
Whate'er  could  bless  and  save  us  : 

Praise  Him  who  loveth  thus  ! 

Yes,. praise  Him,  for  He  never 

His  needful  help  denies ; 
Ah  happy  hour,  whenever 

To  Him  our  thoughts  can  rise  ! 

For  all  the  time  we  spend 
Without  Him  is  but  wasted, 
Mere  loss  till  we  have  tasted 

His  joy  that  cannot  end. 

The  world  around  is  passing 

With  all  its  pomp  and  pride ; 
What  men  are  here  amassing 

Can  never  long  abide  ; 

We  die — and  it  is  gone. 
But  fear  not,  Christian  sleeper, 
God  is  our  mighty  Keeper, 

And  we  shall  wake  anon. 

Then  though  on  earth  I  suffer 

Much  trial,  well  I  know 
I  merit  ways  still  rougher. 

And  'tis  to  heaven  I  go. 

For  Christ  I  know  and  love ; 
And  every  step  leads  thither. 
Where,  safe  from  blasts  that  wither, 

Joy  dwells  with  Him  above. 

For  'tis  our  Father  made  us, 
And  wills  our  good  alone  ; 

The  Son  hath  died  to  save  us 

.\nd  make  God's  goodness  known  ; 


156         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

The  Spirit  rules  our  ways, 
And  dwells  through  faith  within  us, 
To  God  and  Heaven  to  win  us ; 

To  Him  be  thanks  and  praise ! 

Several  of  the  classical  hymns  of  Germany  belong 
to  this  period,  and  resemble  in  spirit  those  of  Ring- 
waldt  and  Helmboldt  just  quoted.  The  best  are  by 
Schalling  and  Herberger,  both  pastors  in  Silesia,  and 
Pappus,  a  professor  at  Strasburg. 

We  give  one  of  this  style  by  Weingartner,  the 
pastor  of  Heilbronn,  which  became  a  great  favourite 
during  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  also  a  little  poem 
of  a  more  personal  character,  which  belongs  to  this 
date,  but  is  of  unknown  authorship  : — 

CONSOLATION. 

In  God  my  faithful  God 

I  trust  when  dark  my  road  ; 
Though  many  woes  o'ertake  me. 
Yet  He  will  not  forsake  me; 
His  love  it  is  doth  send  them. 
And  when  'tis  best  will  end  them. 

My  sins  assail  me  sore, 

But  I  despair  no  more  : 
I  trust  in  Christ  who  loves  me, 
From  this  Rock  nothing  moves  me, 
Since  I  can  all  surrender 
To  Him,  my  soul's  Defender. 

If  death  my  portion  be. 

Then  death  is  gain  to  me, 
And  Christ  my  life  for  ever, 
From  whom  no  death  can  sever; 
Come  when  it  may.  He'll  shield  me, 
To  Him  I  wholly  yield  me. 


WEINGARTNER.  157 


Ah  Jesus  Christ,  my  Lord  ! 

So  meek  in  deed  and  word, 
Didst  Thou  not  die  to  save  us, 
Because  Thou  fain  wouldst  have  us, 
After  this  Ufe  of  sadness, 
Heirs  of  Thy  heavenly  gladness  ? 

"  So  be  it "  then  I  say 

Heartily  day  by  day  ! 
Guide  us  while  here  we  wander, 
Till  safely  landed  yonder, 
We  too,  dear  Lord,  adore  Thee, 
And  sing  with  joy  before  Thee  ! 

A  THANKSGIVING. 
Thou  burning  Love,  Thou  holy  Flame, 

O  Thou  my  God  and  Lord, 
Thou  hast  preserved  me  by  Thy  Name, 

When  terrors  were  abroad  ; 
Thou  helpest  us  in  worst  distress, 

If  we  but  cling  to  Thee, 
Wherefore,  my  God,  no  bitterness 

Shall  ever  make  me  flee. 

Ah  !  never  can  I  praise  enough 

The  mercy  Thou  hast  shown  ! 
When  days  were  dark  and  storms  were  rough 

Thou  mad'st  Thy  kindness  known, 
Thy  miracles  of  goodness  then 

Thou  sufferedst  me  to  see ; 
O  Bread  of  Life  !  my  heart  again 

Cries,  let  me  cling  to  Thee  ! 

Thee  I  desire,  to  Thee  I  cleave. 

To  Thee  will  I  be  true  ; 
As  opes  the  floweret  to  receive 

The  May-time's  quickening  dew, 


158         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. ' 

So  in  the  time  of  grief  and  woe 

Opens  my  heart  to  Thee, 
And  feels  anew  a  Uving  glow, 

For  Thou  consolest  me. 

Ah  !  though  I  lived  a  thousand  years, 

And  spake  with  thousand  tongues, 
I  could  not  tell  with  words  nor  tears 

What  praise  to  Thee  belongs. 
Ah  no,  it  never  can  be  told, 

Not  even,  my  God,  to  Thee, 
How  rich  the  gifts,  how  manifold, 

That  Thou  hast  showered  on  me  ! 

This  only,  O  my  God,  I  pray. 

Thy  Spirit  may  abide 
In  me,  and  keep  me  in  Thy  way, 

My  Comfort  and  my  Guide  ; 
Let  nothing  evil  reign  within. 

Thine  angels  send  to  me. 
Let  me  escape  all  snares  of  sin, 

And  lead  me  home  to  Thee. 

Hitherto  the  hymns  of  the  Reformation  had  been 
distinguished  by  their  simplicity  and  appropriateness 
to  church  use  ;  their  models  had  been  found  in  the 
earlier  Latin  hymns,  or  in  the  Psalms  of  the 
Old  Testament  and  the  hymns  handed  down  to 
us  by  St.  Luke.  Now,  however,  for  the  first  time 
we  encounter  a  new  style,  afterwards  very  pre- 
valent, which  reminds  us  of  some  of  the  later  me- 
diaeval hymns  addressed  to  the  Virgin  and  saints, 
and  finds  its  scriptural  ground  in  the  Song  of  Solomon 
and  the  Apocalypse.  As  yet  most  hymns  were 
addressed  to  God  the  Father  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  or  to   the  Holy  Trinity,  or   in  the   case   of 


PHILIP  NICOLAI.  159 


hymns  of  sorrow  and  penitence  to  the  Saviour.  But 
afterwards  the  mystical  union  of  Christ  with  the  soul 
became  a  favourite  subject ;  more  secular  allusions  and 
similes  were  admitted,  and  a  class  of  hymns  begins  to 
grow  up,  called  in  Germany  "  Hymns  of  the  Love  of 
Jesus."  Some  of  these  are  extremely  beautiful,  and 
express  most  vividly  that  sense  of  fellowship  with 
Christ,  of  His  presence  and  tender  sympathy,  of  per- 
sonal love  and  gratitude  to  Him,  which  are  among  the 
deepest  and  truest  experiences  of  the  Christian  life  ; 
but  it  is  a  style  which  needs  to  be  guarded,  for  it 
easily  degenerates  into  sentimentality  of  a  kind  very 
injurious  alike  to  true  religion  and  poetical  beauty. 

The  earliest  examples  of  this  style  are  two  cele- 
brated hymns  written  by  Dr.  Philip  Nicolai  in 
1597,  during  a  fearful  pestilence  in  Westphalia,  where 
he  was  pastor  of  the  little  town  of  Unna.  More  than 
i,4CXD  persons  died  in  a  very  short  time,  and  from  his 
window  he  saw  all  the  funerals  pass  to  the. graveyard 
close  at  hand.  From  these  scenes  of  death  he  turned 
to  the  study  of  St.  Augustine's  "  City  of  God  "  and 
the  contemplation  of  the  eternal  life,  and  so  absorbed 
himself  in  them  that  he  remained  cheerful  and  well 
amid  the  surrounding  distress.  In  1599  he  published 
the  fruit  of  his  meditations  in  a  treatise  called  "  The 
Joyous  Mirror  of  Life  Eternal,"  a  book  of  pious  and 
devout  reflection,  to  which  he  affixed  two  hymns  that 
speedily  attained  a  remarkable  popularity,  and  are 
indeed  admirable  for  their  fervour  of  emotion  and 
mastery  over  difficult  but  musical  rhythms.    One  is — 

"  Wake,  awake,  for  night  is  flying, 
The  watchmen  on  the  heights  are  crying, 
Awake,  Jerusalem,  at  last!" 


i6o         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

which  is  well  known  in  England  from  the  use  of  its 
splendid  chorale  in  Mendelssohn's  "Elijah"  to  the 
words, 

"  Sleepers,  wake,  a  voice  is  calling." 

The  other  hymn,  "  O  Morning-Star,"  also  possesses  a 
very  fine  chorale  ;  and  so  popular  did  it  soon  become, 
that  its  tune  was  often  chimed  by  city  chimes,  lines 
and  verses  from  it  were  printed  by  way  of  ornament 
on  the  common  earthenware  of  the  country,  and  it  was 
invariably  used  at  weddings  and  certain  festivals.  It 
is  still  to  be  found  in  all  German  hymn-books,  but  in 
a  very  modified  form  to  suit  more  modern  tastes. 
A  translation  of  the  original  hymn  is  here  attempted. 
Nicolai's  title  for  it  is — 


A  SPIRITUAL  BRIDAL  SONG  OF  THE  BELIEV- 
ING SOUL,  CONCERNING  HER  HEAVENLY 
BRIDEGROOM. 

O  Morning-Star,  how  fair  and  bright 
Thou  beamest  forth  in  truth  and  light ! 

O  Sovereign  meek  and  lowly ! 
Sweet  Root  of  Jesse,  David's  Son, 
My  King  and  Bridegroom,  Thou  hast  won 

My  heart  to  love  Thee  solely  ! 
Lovely  art  Thou,  fair  and  glorious. 
All  victorious, 
Rich  in  blessing, 
Rule  and  might  o'er  all  possessing. 

O  King  high-born.  Pearl  hardly  won. 
True  Son  of  God  and  Mary's  Son, 


PHILIP  NICOLAI.  i6i 

Crown  of  exceeding  glory  ! 
My  heart  calls  Thee  a  Lily,  Lord, 
Pure  milk  and  honey  is  Thy  Word, 

Thy  sweetest  Gospel-story. 

Rose  of  Sharon,  hail !  Hosanna  ! 

Heavenly  Manna, 

Feed  us  ever ; 

Lord,  I  can  forget  Thee  never  ! 

Clear  Jasper,  Ruby  fervent  red, 
Deep  deep  within  my  heart  now  shed 

The  glow  of  love's  pure  fire  ; 
Fill  me  with  joy,  grant  me  to  be 
Thy  member  closely  joined  to  Thee, 

Whom  all  my  thoughts  desire  ; 
Toward  Thee  longing  doth  possess  me, 
Turn  and  bless  me, 
For  Thy  gladness 
Eye  and  heart  here  pine  in  sadness. 

But  if  Thou  look  on  me  in  love. 
There  straightway  falls  from  God  above 

A  ray  of  purest  pleasure  ; 
Thy  Word  and  Spirit,  flesh  and  blood, 
Refresh  my  soul  with  heavenly  food, 

Thou  art  my  hidden  treasure. 
Let  Thy  grace.  Lord,  warm  and  cheer  me, 
O  draw  near  me  ; 
Thou  hast  taught  us 
Thee  to  seek,  since  Thou  hast  sought  us. 

Lord  God,  my  Father,  mighty  Shield, 
Thou  in  Thy  Son  art  all  revealed 

As  Thou  hast  loved  and  known  me ; 
Thy  Son  hath  me  with  Him  betrothed, 

S.L.VI.  jj 


i62         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

In  His  own  whitest  raiment  clothed, 

He  for  His  bride  will  own  me. 
Hallelujah  !     Life  in  heaven 
Hath  He  given, 
With  Him  dwelling, 
Still  shall  I  His  praise  be  telling. 

Then  touch  the  chords  of  harp  and  lute, 
Let  no  sweet  music  now  be  mute, 

But  joyously  resounding, 
Tell  of  the  Marriage-feast,  the  Bride, 
The  heavenly  Bridegroom  at  her  side, 

'Mid  love  and  joy  abounding ; 
Shout  for  triumph,  loudly  sing  ye, 
Praises  bring  ye. 
Fall  before  Him, 
King  of  kings,  let  all  adore  Him  ! 

Here  my  heart  rests,  and  holds  it  fast. 
The  Lord  I  love  is  First  and  Last, 

The  End  as  the  Beginning  ; 
Here  I  can  die,  for  I  shall  rise 
Through  Him,  to  His  own  Paradise 

Above  all  tears  and  sinning. 
Amen  !  Amen  !     Come,  Lord  Jesus, 
Soon  release  us, 
With  deep  yearning, 
Lord,  we  look  for  Thy  returning  ! 

It  has  been  said  that  Nicolai's  hymns  owed  some  of 
their  popularity  to  the  noble  chorales  he  composed  for 
them ;  and  it  may  be  observed  in  general  that  the 
rapid  growth  of  sacred  poetry  in  Germany  at  the  era 
of  the  Reformation  was  partly  due  to  an  equally 
striking  advance  in  church-music.      The  song-loving 


CHURCH  MUSIC.  163 

German  people  seized  with  avidity  on  this  new  open- 
ing for  their  art,  and  a  very  remarkable  number  of 
fine  tunes  were  composed  in  this  century,  so  that  an 
old  writer  says,  "Whensoever  the  Holy  Ghost  in- 
spireth  a  new  hymn,  it  is  His  wont  to  inspire  some 
one  with  a  good  tune  to  fit  it"  Nearly  all  the  collec- 
tions of  hymns  also  contained  tunes,  which  were  inse- 
parably associated  with  certain  hymns  ;  and  it  became 
the  custom  in  most  towns,  for  the  city  musicians  to 
ascend  the  tower  of  the  church  or  town-hall  at  certain 
hours  of  the  day,  and  blow  these  sacred  melodies  from 
their  horns,  so  that  the  people  learnt  them  by  heart 
from  childhood.  A  great  improvement  took  place  in 
the  organ  about  the  same  time,  and  Eccard,  who  lived 
at  Mulhausen,  and  composed  melodies  for  many  of 
Helmboldt's  hymns,  introduced  the  practice  of  giving 
the  air  to  the  soprano  instead  of  the  tenor  voice. 
Thus  by  the  close  of  this  century  the  chorale  had 
assumed  essentially  its  modern  form,  and  the  organ 
was  universally  used  in  Lutheran  churches.  The 
tune  to  Helmboldt's  hymn  above  quoted  has  always 
been  a  peculiar  favourite  in  Germany,  and  though 
harmonized  by  Eccard,  was  based  on  a  secular  air,  as 
Helmboldt  tells  us — 

"  Because  so  sweet  in  every  part, 
So  tuneful  is  this  air, 
That  hearing  it,  a  godly  heart 
Swims  in  delight  most  rare  ; 
Therefore  have  I  set  words  to  it, 

That  every  one  may  sing ; 
Whate'er  his  case,  this  song  will  fit. 
And  never  harm  can  bring." 
M  2 


1 64         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

The  chorales  are  distinguished  by  breadth  and 
simpHcity,  and  are  pecuharly  adapted  for  large 
masses  of  voices  or  for  organ  accompaniment ;  while 
compared  with  the  Gregorian  music  which  had  pre- 
ceded them,  they  formed  a  congregational  rhythmical 
song.  Great  skill  may  be  shown  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  inner  voices,  and  in  such  skill  Luther  took  the 
keenest  delight ;  he  speaks  of  the  wonderful  wisdom 
of  God  as  shown  in  music, "  when  the  other  parts  play 
around  the  air,  leading  as  it  were  a  heavenly  dance 
with  it;  meeting  with  pleasure,  parting  in  pain,  em- 
bracing and  kissing  each  other  again."  "  Whoever  is 
not  moved  by  such  art  as  this,  must  of  a  truth  be  a 
coarse  clod,  not  worthy  to  hear  such  lovely  music, 
but  only  the  waste  wild  bray  of  the  old  chanting,  and 
the  songs  and  music  of  the  dogs  and  pigs." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE      THIRTY      YEARS*      WAR. 
A.D.    1618 — 1650. 

The  long  peace  of  sixty  years  which  had  followed 
the  treaty  of  Passau  was  drawing  to  an  end  ;  and  to 
understand  the  difference  that  was  made  by  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  that  followed  it,  we  must  remember 
that  Germany  was  already  an  old  country,  in  the  van 
of  European  civilization,  with  a  social  order,  literature, 
and  arts  of  many  centuries'  growth. 

Some  of  the  great  cities,  such  as  those  of  the  Hanse 
League  and  Nuremberg  for  instance,  were  indeed  be- 
ginning to  lose  a  little  of  their  pre-eminence,  as  the 
carrying  trade  of  the  world  was  finding  new  paths,  and 
slipping  into  the  hands  of  the  English  and  the  Nether- 
landers.  But  they  were  still  the  channel  of  commu- 
nication between  the  east  and  west  of  Europe ;  and  the 
great  development  of  the  internal  trade  of  Germany, 
its  mines  and  its  manufactures,  was  supplying  to  some 
extent  the  place  of  what  was  lost.  It  was  also  calling 
into  existence  all  over  the  country  smaller  towns, 
which  were  centres  of  vigorous  and  active  life  ;  while 
the  country  regions  were  thickly  dotted  with  villages, 
and  towns  and  villages  alike  had  their  local  organiza- 


1 66         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

tion  for  self-government,  their  churches,  and  schools. 
The  standard  of  comfort  was  substantially  a  high  one, 
in  food,  in  dress,  and  in  furniture.  Of  course  various 
articles  of  foreign  production  which  are  common  now, 
and  the  lack  of  which  we  should  sorely  feel,  were 
wholly  unknown  then ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
was  far  more  artistic  effort  and  beauty  bestowed  on 
the  houses  themselves,  and  on  their  internal  ornamen- 
tation and  furniture,  than  in  later  times.  Many  of  the 
churches  were  beautiful  specimens  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture, and  even  in  country  places  they  were  gene- 
rally handsome  stone  buildings,  often  possessing  rich 
altar  furniture,  painted  windows,  and  a  peal  of 
bells — forms  of  decoration  in  which  the  Germans 
took  great  delight,  and  for  which  their  skill  was 
famous  all  over  Europe.  The  quick-witted  towns- 
people were  accustomed  greatly  to  despise  their  rural 
neighbours,  and  no  doubt  the  difference  of  manners  in 
those  days  of  infrequent  communication  was  far  more 
marked  than  it  is  now ;  but  the  peasant  had  no 
reason  to  be  ashamed  of  his  lot.  During  the  pre- 
vious century  a  change  had  gradually  taken  place, 
which  leaving  certain  feudal  dues  and  rights  to  the 
lords,  had  in  most  parts  of  Germany  practically  trans- 
formed the  peasant  into  the  proprietor  of  his  land. 
Agriculture  was  practised  with  great  skill  and  care, 
the  crops  seem  to  have  been  large,  the  culture  of  wool 
and  of  the  vine  was  carried  to  a  greater  extent  even 
than  now,  and  the  number  of  animals  of  all  kinds,  but 
especially  horses,  proved  by  old  parish  records  to  have 
existed  on  the  land,  is  very  surprising.  The  houses 
were  usually  of  clay,  but  were  plentifully  furnished 
with  linen,  bedding,  pewter,  and  such  wooden  furniture 


THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR.  167 

as  is  now  eagerly  bought  up  by  connoisseurs,  while 
the  warm  and  abundant  clothing  of  the  people  was  a 
common  subject  of  remark  among  travellers.  Men- 
tally, too,  the  country  was  full  of  life  ;  education  was 
carefully  promoted,  and  just  before  the  war  broke  out 
an  association  was  formed,  called  "  The  Fruit-bearing 
Society,"  which  aimed  at  fulfilling  towards  the  German 
literature  and  language  the  functions  of  the  Academy 
Delia  Crusca  towards  the  Italian,  and  which  counted 
among  its  members  men  of  all  ranks  from  the  highest 
downward,  and  all  the  best  writers  of  the  day. 

Over  such  a  country  swept  to  and  fro  the  pitiless 
ever-recurring  tempest  of  war,  for  the  lifetime  of  a 
whole  generation  ;  and  when  the  great  peace  rejoicings 
took  place  at  last  in  1650,1  it  was  a  changed  land  which 
witnessed  them.  It  is  calculated  by  German  writers 
who  have  been  investigating  recently  the  official  re- 
cords still  left  of  the  state  of  the  country  before  and 
after  the  war,  that  over  a  considerable  extent  of  it, 
four-fifths  of  the  population  and  much  more  than  four- 
fifths  of  the  property  were  destroyed,^  and  taken  as 
a  whole,  at  least  a  half  of  both  throughout  Germany 
must  have  disappeared  ;  while  it  is  only  within  the 
last  thirty  or  forty  years  that  Germany  at  large  has 
attained  the  same  point,  either  as  to  population,  trade, 
or  the  productiveness  of  the  soil,  at  which  it  stood 
early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Two  hundred  years 
have  been  necessary  merely  to  recover  lost  ground  ! 

1  The  war  began  in  16 18  and  ended  in  1648,  but  two  years  more 
were  consumed  in  negotiations,  during  which  time  the  annies,  though 
not  actually  engaged  in  hostilities,  were  maintained,  and  pressed  heavily 
the  land. 

See  Freitag's  "Bilder  aus  der  deutschen  Vergangenhelt,"  the  chap- 
ters on  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 


i68  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Looked  at  broadly  the  conflict  was  a  defensive  war 
on  the  part  of  the  Protestant  against  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion.  During  its  earlier  years  the  advan- 
tage inclined  on  the  whole  to  the  Imperial  side ;  then 
came  the  "  Lion  of  the  North,"  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
and  swept  back  the  tide  of  victory,  and  after  his 
death  it  is  hard  to  say  which  party  had  the  advantage. 
Had  either  been  strong  enough  to  win  a  decided 
success,  the  war  might  have  been  sooner  at  an  end  ; 
but  the  opponents  were  nearly  matched,  and  the 
Evangelical  party,  princes  and  people  alike,  felt  that 
they  could  not  yield — for  them  it  was  a  struggle  of 
life  and  death.  If  the  Imperialists  had  triumphed, 
despotism  and  Romanism  under  the  Jesuits  would 
have  settled  down  over  the  whole  land,  as  they  did 
on  the  Austrian  dominions. 

Such  a  war  brought  with  it  many  evils  besides  itself; 
terrible  disturbances  of  trade  and  currency,  which 
perhaps  most  affected  the  cities  ;  bands  of  marauders 
who  infested  country  regions  where  the  use  of  locks 
and  bolts  had  been  almost  forgotten.  Evangelical 
territories  which  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Imperialists 
had  to  suffer  a  religious  persecution,  which  cost  many 
their  lives,  and  drove  hundreds  of  thousands  into 
exile,  so  that  the  difficulties  of  the  fortified  cities  of  the 
north  were  much  increased  by  the  numbers  of  home- 
less fugitives  who  sought  shelter  there.  Towards  the 
close  of  the  war  came  scarcity  of  food,  and  pestilences, 
one  of  which,  in  1637,  was  of  frightful  severity,  such 
as  had  not  been  known  for  a  hundred  years.  But  the 
worst  was  the  actual  devastation  of  the  war  itself. 
Gustavus  Adolphus  succeeded  in  introducing  a  higher 
discipline  and  tone  into  his  army,  and  preventing  the 


THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR.  169 

plundering  and  cruelties  which  were  practised  by  the 
troops  generally,  but  after  his  death  no  one  else  had 
the  same  power.  As  a  rule,  the  soldiers  plundered 
wherever  they  went,  not  only  taking  what  they  wanted, 
but  often  wantonly  destroying  what  they  could  not 
carry  off;  the  churches  were  robbed  and  battered 
down  because  they  afforded  a  refuge  to  the  poor 
villagers,  and  the  bells  were  stolen  to  make  guns ; 
if  a  peasant  was  suspected  of  secreting  any  treasure, 
he  was  cruelly  tortured  ;  girls  and  lads  were  constantly 
carried  away  by  force.  In  many  parts  of  Germany 
spots  are  still  pointed  out  where  the  peasantry 
made  hiding-places  for  themselves  in  the  woods, 
while  their  few  possessions  were  concealed  in  grave- 
yards, even  in  the  very  coffins  of  the  dead.  The  towns 
suffered  under  forced  contributions  and  the  quarter- 
ing of  large  bodies  of  troops,  and  sometimes  had  to 
endure  the  utmost  horrors  of  siege  and  storm.  Leipsic 
was  besieged  five,  and  Magdeburg  six  times.  To- 
wards the  end  of  the  war  we  are  told  of  once  flourish- 
ing towns  reduced  to  forty  inhabitants,  who  with  their 
own  hands  unroofed  their  houses  to  avoid  the  taxation 
to  which  dwelling-houses  were  still  liable,  and  dwelt 
in  thatched  hovels  in  the  streets;  and  of  villages  wholly 
depopulated,  or  where  a  scanty  remnant  crept  back  to 
the  familiar  fields  and  cowered  in  clay  huts  without 
windows,  lest  the  firelight  should  serve  as  a  beacon  to 
attract  their  enemies. 

When  we  read  such  a  tale  of  disasters  it  seems 
wonderful  that  society  should  have  survived,  or  the 
country  recovered  at  all.  We  have  to  remember  that 
after  all  there  were  intervals  of  rest,  and  some  districts 
suffered  less  than  others,  were  perhaps  only  once  or 


I70         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

twice  visited  by  the  armies.  And  certainly  the  im- 
mediate effect  of  the  war  on  the  mental  activity  of 
Germany  was  stimulating ;  it  was  not  until  the  still- 
ness of  the  peace  had  fully  set  in  that  the  exhaustion 
which  it  had  produced  in  this  direction,  as  well  as 
others,  made  itself  felt.  While  the  contest  was  going 
on,  the  call  for  exertion,  the  consciousness  of  fighting 
in  a  great  cause,  the  enthusiasm  excited  all  over 
evangelical  Germany  by  the  lofty  character  and 
splendid  genius  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  quickened 
men's  love  of  their  religion  and  their  fatherland.  This 
Avas  especially  true  of  the  clergy  at  that  time.  Whether 
Romanist  or  Evangelical,  the  parish  priests  seem  to 
have  deserved  well  of  their  country  by  the  way  in 
which  they  stood  by  their  flocks,  comforting  them 
in  trouble,  and  encouraging  the  little  community  to 
re-organize  itself  and  struggle  on  afresh  after  each  new 
disaster.  But  the  Evangelical  clergy  showed  them- 
selves particularly  courageous  in  this  way,  for  they 
were  usually  marked  out  for  plunder  and  cruel  ill- 
treatment  by  the  Imperialist  troops ;  yet  when  their 
churches  were  destroyed  they  assembled  the  people 
for  prayer  in  the  woods  or  on  the  hill-sides ;  when 
the  school  was  broken  up,  they  taught  the  children  as 
long  as  it  was  possible  to  collect  any ;  they  obtained 
help  for  their  people  through  the  ecclesiastical  organi- 
zation from  the  more  favoured  regions  ;  and  they  were 
the  medium  through  which  the  higher  intelligence  of 
the  country,  and  the  sentiment  of  a  common  nationality 
and  faith,  penetrated  to  the  mass  of  the  people.  Their 
influence  is  acknowledged  to  have  been  one  of  the 
most  valuable  in  keeping  society  together,  and  pre- 
venting culture  from  dying  out,  even  by  those  German 


THE  ORDER  OF  THE  PALM.  171 

writers  who  lament  the  character  of  pedantry  and 
stiffness  which  they  impressed  on  Hterature  and 
thought.  And  so  it  came  about  that  this  period  of 
suffering  was  one  of  literary  and  intellectual  activity 
in  many  ways  ;  and  that  once  more  especially  a  great 
outburst  of  religious  song  took  place,  in  which  the 
clergy  bore  the  greatest  share,  but  which  was  by  no 
means  confined  to  them.  A  very  large  proportion  of 
the  most  famous  hymns  and  hymn-writers  of  Germany 
belong  to  this  century,  and  the  only  difficulty  is  to 
select  from  the  number  of  its  names. 

Many  of  them  were  also  members  of  the  Fruit- 
bearing  Society,  which  from  its  motto  and  badge 
— a  palm-tree  with  the  words  "all  for  use" — is  also 
known  as  the  Order  of  the  Palm.  It  was  founded 
in  1617  by  Ludwig,  Prince  of  Anhalt-Cothen,  and, 
though  meant  for  serious  work,  had  its  fanciful  side 
in  its  imitation  of  an  order  of  chivalry.  Its  head 
was  always  to  be  a  German  prince ;  no  one  was  to 
be  admitted  to  membership  except  persons  of  some 
distinction,  either  by  birth  or  literary  achievements  or 
both,  and  of  unblemished  character ;  all  its  members 
were  bound  to  promote  in  every  possible  way  the 
purity  and  refinement  of  the  German  language  and 
the  enrichment  of  its  literature,  and  to  cultivate 
whatever  was  essentially  national  in  language  and 
manners.  A  very  large  number  of  the  noble  classes, 
among  whom  a  high  standard  of  cultivation  was  then 
common,  joined  it,  as  well  as  the  principal  writers  of 
the  time ;  and  it  certainly  did  good  service  in  furnish- 
ing a  centre  for  national  feeling  and  for  common 
action,  as  well  as  in  its  own  proper  department.  The 
most   eminent   member   of  this   society  was  Martin 


172  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Opitz,  afterwards  ennobled  as  Opitz  von  Bobersfeld. 
He  was  a  native  of  Bunzlau,  in  Silesia,  and  with  him 
begins  what  is  termed  the  Silesian  era  of  German 
poetry — a  time  when  this  country  held  the  first  rank 
in  learning  and  literature  among  the  German  States  as 
markedly  as  Swabia  had  done  in  the  days  of  the 
Minne-singers.  Opitz  died  of  the  plague  at  Dantzic 
in  1639,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-two ;  but  his 
short  life  had  been  rich  in  mental  labour.  He  had 
travelled  much,  and  was  well  known  at  all  the  chief 
German  courts  ;  he  had  taken  part  in  one  military 
expedition,  and  had  acquitted  himself  creditably  of  a 
more  congenial  employment — a  diplomatic  mission  to 
Paris.  His  great  work,  however,  lay  in  his  "Treatise  on 
German  Poetry,"  and  in  the  practical  exemplification 
of  its  principles  which  he  gave  in  his  own  poems.  He 
was,  in  fact,  the  first  to  lay  down  the  laws  of  German 
prosody,  and  he  may  be  said  to  have  given  its  form  to 
German  verse,  as  Luther  did  to  German  prose.  This 
service  has  obtained  him  a  higher  place  in  his  country's 
literature  than  the  merits  of  his  poems  would  intrinsi- 
cally justify.  They  are  easy,  correct,  and  elegant,  but 
have  scarcely  a  spark  of  originality  or  force,  yet  in 
his  own  day  they  procured  him  the  highest  possible 
eulogies  from  princes  and  scholars,  and  not  empty 
praise  alone,  but  money,  friends,  and  rank.  Opitz  was 
essentially  a  clever,  industrious  literary  man  of  the 
world,  with  the  art  of  making  himself  everywhere 
agreeable,  and  he  was  petted  and  caressed  accordingly, 
more  than  was  good  for  his  work.  Such  a  man  would 
probably  never  have  written  religious  poetry  at  all  in 
ordinary  times ;  but  living  as  he  did  when  grave 
thoughts   and   terrible   struggles   were   in    all   men's 


MARTIN  OPITZ.  173 


minds,  he  too  was  influenced  by  his  age,  and  he  wrote 
a  good  deal  of  this  kind — versions  of  all  the  epistles 
for  the  Sundays  of  the  year,  of  many  of  the  Psalms, 
and  of  the  Song  of  Solomon.  Among  his  sacred 
poems,  however,  his  hymns  are  by  far  the  best,  and 
some  are  really  fine.     We  give  one,  a 

MORNING   HYMN. 

O  Light,  who  out  of  Light  wast  born, 

O  glorious  Sun  of  Righteousness, 
Thou  sendest  us  anew  the  mom 

With  pleasant  light  and  cheerfulness ; 
Therefore  it  beseems  us  well 
Now  with  thankful  lips  to  tell 

All  we  owe  to  Thee ; 
Let  our  hearts  to  Thee  arise. 
Open  Thou  our  inner  eyes 
All  Thy  love  to  see. 

O  let  Thy  Spirit's  clear-eyed  day 

Break  in  upon  our  hearts'  deep  night. 
And  with  its  glowing  radiance  slay 
Our  self-trust's  cold  deluding  light ; 
See,  we  waver  and  are  weak. 
Act  and  thought  alike  oft  seek 
Paths  that  are  not  Thine  ! 
That  our  way  may  grow  more  clear, 
And  our  life  more  steadfast  here, 
Bid  Thy  Sun  to  shine. 

Unite,  Lord,  in  the  bonds  of  peace 

Our  Church's  scattered  band  ; 
Bid  wars  and  persecutions  cease 

Through  our  sad  fatherland  ; 


174         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Grant  us,  Lord,  O  grant  us  rest ! 
That  we,  not  too  sore  opprest, 

May  our  course  fulfil 
Through  this  fleeting  Time,  till  Thou 
Bring  us  where  the  angels  now 

Praise  Thy  goodness  still. 

Next  to  Opitz,  the  chief  poet  of  the  time  was 
Paul  Flemming,  and  in  real  poetical  genius,  in  truth 
and  depth  of  feeling,  he  surpassed  him  ;  yet  Flem- 
ming was  but  little  known  during  his  lifetime,  and 
himself  regarded  Opitz  with  an  almost  idolatrous 
reverence.  He  was  a  Saxon  by  birth,  the  son  of 
wealthy  parents  ;  and  though  he  adopted  medicine  as 
his  profession,*  he  seems  to  have  been  independent  of 
its  exercise.  He  had  an  energetic  and  fervid  tem- 
perament, and  an  enthusiastic  love  for  his  country 
and  the  cause  of  Evangelical  religion,  to  which 
he  often  gives  expression  in  his  verse.  The  love  of 
adventure,  and  the  hope  too  of  doing  some  good 
service  to  his  country,  induced  him  to  join  an  embassy 
that  was  sent  at  first  to  Moscow,  and  afterwards  by 
way  of  Astrachan  to  Ispahan,  an  expedition  that  in 
those  days  occupied  seven  years,  and  led  him  into 
an  incredible  number  of  dangers  and  hardships.  He 
returned  to  Hamburg  in  1639,  and  died  the  next  year, 
like  so  many  of  his  contemporaries,  in  the  prime  of  his 
powers,  for  he  was  but  thirty-one.  Evidently  he  had 
a  keen  eye  for  natural  beauty,  and  he  writes  charming 
descriptions  of  scenes  that  he  beheld  in  his  long 
journey,  as  well  as  sweet  and  tender  songs  of  love 
and  friendship  ;  but  a  shade  of  sadness  is  thrown  over 
them  by  his  sorrow  for  his  country,  and  the  bitter 
regret  he  felt  at  having-  left  it  in  its  trouble,  for  travels 


PAUL  FLEMMING.  I75 

which  did  not  produce  the  expected  results.  One  of 
his  hymns,  written  on  this  journey,  is  a  classical  one 
in  Germany.     It  is — 

"  Where'er  I  go,  whate'er  my  task, 
The  counsel  of  my  God  I  ask." 

The  following  little  poem  is  inscribed 

TO   MYSELF. 

Let  nothing  make  thee  sad  or  fretful, 
Or  too  regretful, 

Be  still ; 
What  God  hath  ordered  must  be  right. 
Then  find  in  it  thine  own  delight, 

My  will. 

Why  shouldst  thou  fill  to-day  with  sorrow 
About  to-morrow. 

My  heart  ? 
One  watches  all  with  care  most  true, 
Doubt  not  that  He  will  give  thee  too 

Thy  part. 

Only  be  steadfast,  never  waver. 
Nor  seek  earth's  favour, 
But  rest : 
Thou  knowest  what  God  wills  must  be 
For  all  His  creatures,  so  for  thee, 
The  best. 

SO   HATH   GOD   LOVED  THE  WORLD. 

Can  it  then  be  that  hate  should  e'er  be  loved  ? 
Yea,  Love  !  'twas  only  on  the  world's  cold  heart, 
Cold,  hard  as  iron,  Thou  couldst  show  Thine  art, 

There  only  all  Thy  strength  and  fire  be  proved. 


176        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

'Tis  on  our  ice  Thy  living  radiance  glows, 
Makes  day  of  night,  for  evil  gives  us  good, 
Riches  for  poverty,  for  hunger  food, 

And  heaven  for  earth.     True  Friend  of  bitterest  foes. 
Thou  Death  of  death,  O  Pain  to  nought  but  pain, 
O  Master  who  Thy  work  dost  ne'er  disdain. 

Serving  Thy  servants  who  can  merit  nought. 
How  can  I  fathom  Thy  abyss,  O  Love ! 
By  so  much  deeper  than  our  hearts  can  prove, 

As  God  is  higher  than  man's  highest  thought. 

Another  of  these  men  who  were  the  leaders  of  the 
secular  literature  of  their  age,  and  who  also  ranked 
themselves  among  its  religious  poets,  was  Andreas 
Gryphius,  a  Silesian  like  Opitz,  and  like  him  a 
member  of  the  Order  of  the  Palm.  His  great 
achievement  was  the  revival  of  the  drama,  to  which 
his  tragedies  gave  its  modern  form  in  Germany, 
as  the  poems  of  Opitz  did  to  lyrical  verse.  Thus 
they  too  mark  an  epoch  in  German  literature,  and 
they  soon  found  imitators,  but  they  have  not  kept 
his  name  alive  among  the  people  as  some  of  his 
hymns  have  done.  He  translated  several  of  the 
ancient  Latin  hymns  very  finely,  and  wrote  many 
of  his  own,  which  were  published  at  first  in  a 
small  volume,  under  the  title  of  "  Tears  for  the 
Passion  of  Jesus."  All  his  works  are  pervaded  by 
a  deep  tone  of  melancholy  ;  the  transitoriness  of  all 
things  is  the  thought  that  meets  us  again  and  again, 
and  is  rendered  endurable  only  by  a  firm  trust  in 
God.  "All  flesh  is  grass  ....  but  the  Word  of 
the  Lord  abideth  for  ever ; " — this  most  ancient  anti- 
thesis of  sorrow  and  consolation  is  the  text  of  most 


ANDREAS  GRYPHIUS.  177 

of  his  hymns  and  odes.  His  own  life  had  been  so 
darkened  by  sorrow  that  it  was  impossible  his  writings 
should  not  bear  the  same  impress.  Before  the  age  of 
five-and-twenty  he  had  lost  his  father  by  poison,  his 
mother,  brother,  and  sister  by  sickness ;  he  had  known 
poverty  and  hunger ;  he  had  been  driven  from  one 
university  by  fire,  from  another  by  the  plague ;  he 
and  his  brother  had  both  suffered  persecution  for  their 
religion,  and  the  only  gleam  of  sunshine  in  his  life 
had  been  the  kindness  of  the  Count  Palatine  von 
Schonborn,  to  whose  children  he  was  tutor.  Now  his 
patron  died,  and  he  himself  was  brought  to  the  very 
verge  of  the  grave  by  a  long  and  dangerous  illness, 
from  which  indeed  he  at  last  recovered,  but  with 
broken  health  and  spirits,  and  he  died  suddenly  at 
the  age  of  forty-seven,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Estates  of 
the  provinces  of  Glogau.  Yet  through  all  this  he 
managed  to  become  not  only  a  distinguished  poet 
and  an  earnest  Christian,  but  an  active  man  in 
public  business,  and  a  great  scholar  ;  he  understood 
eleven  languages ;  he  travelled  over  a  great  part  of 
Europe,  lecturing  on  the  most  various  scientific 
subjects,  and  receiving  honours  from  the  universities 
he  visited ;  and  after  his  return  he  was  for  many  years 
the  chief  syndic  of  the  principality  of  Glogau,  and 
discharged  the  onerous  duties  of  his  post  to  the  great 
satisfaction  of  the  people.  Of  his  "  Spiritual  Odes," 
the  following  is  one  of  the  most  characteristic : — 

PASSING   AWAY. 

All  glories  of  this  earth  decay, 
In  smoke  and  ashes  pass  away, 

S.L.  VI.  N 


178         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Nor  rock  nor  steel  can  last ; 
What  here  gives  pleasure  to  our  eyes, 
What  we  as  most  enduring  prize, 

Is  but  an  airy  dream  that  fadeth  fast. 

What  are  the  things  whereof  we  boast  ? 
What  are  they  worth  we  value  most  ? 

They  are  but  simply  naught. 
What  is  the  very  life  of  man, 
So  brief,  uncertain,  void  of  plan  ? 

Time's  passing  fancy  with  no  substance  fraught. 

What  is  the  fame  we  strive  for  sore, 
And  deem  will  last  for  evermore. 

But  an  illusion  mere  ? 
So  soon  as  hence  the  mind  is  fled, 
The  lips  are  pale,  the  man  is  dead, 

None  asks  what  he  achieved  when  dwelling,  here. 

No  wisest  knowledge  here  avails. 

O'er  fools  and  wise  men  Death  prevails, 

Nor  lets  them  long  abide. 
Castles  nor  wealth  can  help  at  all ; 
He  who  hath  found  the  world  too  small, 

Now  finds  at  last  a  narrow  grave  too  wide. 

There  is  no  laughter  here,  no  joy, 
But  some  heart-sorrow,  some  annoy. 

Will  poison  it  ere  long  : 
Where  wilt  thou  find  unmixed  delight. 
Where  honour  that  is  always  bright, 

Undimmed  by  scorn  and  hate,  unvexed  by  wrong  ? 
%  *  *  *  * 

We  reckon  year  to  add  to  year. 
And  while  we  count,  behold  !  the  bier 
Is  standing  at  our  door  ; 


ANDREAS  GRYPHIUS.  179 

With  scarce  the  time  to  think  or  pray 
We  must  be  gone,  and  leave  the  day, 

And  say  good-night  to  Earth  for  evermore. 

For  even  while  Pleasure  doth  beguile, 
And  Strength  looks  forward  with  a  smile, 

And  Youth  feels  safe  and  free, 
Death  weaves  his  snares  about  our  feet, 
And  Pleasure  ceases  to  be  sweet, 

And  Youth  and  Strength  and  Courage  fail  and  flee. 

Up,  heart,  awake,  as  one  who  knows 
Of  all  the  gifts  that  Time  bestows 

But  one  belongs  to  thee — 
The  Present ;  for  the  Past  doth  fly 
As  a  swift  stream  goes  shooting  by ; 

The  Future — ah !  who  knows  whose  that  shall  be  ? 

Laugh  at  the  world,  her  honours  vain, 
Her  fears  and  hopes,  her  love  disdain, 

Find  refuge  with  the  One 
Who  is  and  ever  shall  be  King, 
To  whom  no  Time  a  change  can  bring. 

From  whom  eternal  life  can  come  alone. 

Ah  well  for  him  whose  trust  is  here  ! 
Built  on  the  rock,  he  need  not  fear 

Time's  changes  and  decay  : 
Though  he  may  fall,  he  yet  shall  stand 
For  ever  in  the  unchanging  land, 

For  very  Strength  itself  shall  be  his  stay. 

SONNET. 

In  life's  fair  spring,  its  earliest  tender  bloom, 

Fell  Death  hath  orphaned  me ;  and  Sorrow's  night 
Hath  wTapped  me  round  ;  and  the  relentless  might 

Of  Sickness  bade  my  days  in  pain  consume  ; 

N    2 


i8o  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

My  hours  were  shared  with  Want  and  Grief  and  Gloom. 
Supports,  whereon  as  pillars  firm  I  leant, 
Have  all,  alas  !  but  failed  me,  broke  or  bent ; 
Alone  I  bear  as  best  I  may  my  doom. 
Nay,  not  alone  !     My  God  forsakes  me  not. 
His  Father-heart  hath  ne'er  its  truth  forgot ; 

His  eye  and  hand  still  for  His  child  must  care  : 
When  man  no  help  can  find,  then  comes  His  hour. 
When  human  strength  is  spent  He  shows  His  power. 
When  hid  His  presence  seems  ;  behold  !  our  God  is  there  ! 

Other  Silesians  distinguished  themselves  both  as 
secular  and  sacred  poets  :  among  them  were  Buchner, 
professor  of  poetry  at  Wittenberg,  who  was  the  most 
intimate  friend  of  Opitz  ;  Andreas  Tscherning,  a  pro- 
fessor at  Rostock,  who  wrote  a  little  book  of  sacred 
poems  called  "  The  Spring-time  of  German  Poetry," 
which  had  a  very  wide  circulation  in  its  own  day ;  and 
David  von  Schweinitz,  an  upright,  God-fearing  states- 
man, whose  "  Spiritual  Harp  of  the  Heart  "  was  also 
very  popular.  But  from  these  minor  poets,  we  must 
turn  to  the  great  hymn-writers  of  this  period.  In 
general  their  hymns  have  a  more  reflective  tone  than 
those  of  the  Reformation :  they  are  never  doctrinal, 
but  always  experimental  or  devotional ;  more  tender 
than  the  earlier  hymns,  they  are  not  as  yet  deterio- 
rated by  exaggerated  sentiment  or  self-introspection  ; 
they  are  simple,  sweet,  fervent  expressions  of  trust  in 
God's  goodness  and  self-surrender  to  Him.  Some  of 
them  breathe  the  very  spirit  of  Christian  courage,  as 
that  famous  battle-song  of  Gustavus  Adolphus, — 

"  Fear  not,  O  little  flock,  the  foe," — 
which  was   long  attributed   to   Altenburg,  a   pastor 
in   Thuringia ;   recent   researches,   however    seem  to 


MARTIN  RINKART. 


have  made  it  clear  that  he  only  composed  the  chorale, 
and  that  the  hymn  itself  was  written  down  roughly 
by  Gustavus  Adolphus  after  his  victory  at  Leipsic, 
and  reduced  to  regular  verse  by  his  chaplain,  Dr. 
Fabricius,  for  the  use  of  the  army.  Such  again  are  the 
hymns  of  Apelles  von  Lowenstern,  the  saddler  who  rose 
to  be  a  noble,  a  statesman,  a  poet,  and  a  musician  ; 
and  such  especially  is  the  hymn  which  has  become 
the  popular  "  Te  Deum  "  of  Germany,  and  is  always 
chosen  on  any  great  public  occasion  to  express  the 
united  gratitude  and  praise  of  the  people. 

PRAISE. 

Now  thank  we  all  our  God 

With  hearts  and  hands  and  voices, 
Who  wondrous  things  hath  done, 
In  whom  His  world  rejoices ; 
Who  from  our  mother's  arms 

Hath  blessed  us  on  our  way 
With  countless  gifts  of  love, 
And  still  is  ours  to-day. 

Oh  may  this  bounteous  God 

Through  all  our  life  be  near  us, 
With  ever  joyful  hearts 

And  blessed  peace  to  cheer  us, 
And  keep  us  in  His  grace, 

And  guide  us  when  perplexed, 
And  free  us  from  all  ills 
In  this  world  and  the  next. 


All  praise  and  thanks  to  God 
The  Father  now  be  given, 

The  Son  and  Him  who  reigns 
With  them  in  highest  heaven, 


i82        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

The  one  eternal  God, 

Whom  earth  and  heaven  adore  ; 

For  thus  it  was,  is  now, 
And  shall  be  evermore. 

This  simple  but  noble  expression  of  trust  and 
praise,  with  its  fine  chorale,  was  composed  by  Martin 
Rinkart,  in  1644,  when  the  hope  of  a  general  peace 
was  dawning  on  the  country.  He  was  one  of  those 
provincial  clergymen  to  whom  Germany  had  so 
much  reason  to  be  grateful.  The  son  of  a  poor 
coppersmith,  he  made  his  way  at  the  University 
of  Leipsic  by  dint  of  industry  and  his  musical 
gifts,  took  orders,  and  was  precentor  of  the  church 
at  Eisleben,  and  at  the  age  of  thirty-one  was  of- 
fered the  place  of  Archdeacon  at  his  native  town 
of  Eilenburg  in  Saxony.  He  went  there  as  the  war 
broke  out,  and  died  just  after  the  peace,  and 
throughout  these  thirty-one  years  he  stood  by  his 
flock,  and  helped  them  to  the  utmost  under  every 
kind  of  distress.  Of  course  he  had  to  endure  the 
quartering  of  soldiers  in  his  house,  and  frequent 
plunderings  of  his  little  stock  of  grain  and  household 
goods.  But  these  were  small  things.  The  plague  of 
1637  visited  Eilenburg  with  extraordinary  severity ; 
the  town  was  overcrowded  with  fugitives  from  the 
country  districts  where  the  Swedes  had  been  spread- 
ing devastation,  and  in  this  one  year  8,000  persons 
died  in  it.  The  whole  of  the  town  council  except 
three  persons,  a  terrible  number  of  school  children, 
and  the  clergymen  of  the  neighbouring  parish,  were  all 
carried  off;  and  Rinkart  had  to  do  the  work  of  three 
men,  and  did  it  manfully  at  the  beds  of  the  sick  and 


MARTIN  RINK  ART.  183 

dying.  He  buried  more  than  4,000  persons,  but 
through  all  his  labours  he  himself  remained  perfectly- 
well.  The  pestilence  was  followed  by  a  famine  so 
extreme  that  thirty  or  forty  persons  might  be  seen 
fighting  in  the  streets  for  a  dead  cat  or  crow.  Rinkart, 
with  the  burgomaster  and  one  other  citizen,  did 
what  could  be  done  to  organize  assistance,  and 
gave  away  everything  but  the  barest  rations  for  his 
own  family,  so  that  his  door  was  surrounded  by  a 
crowd  of  poor  starving  wretches,  who  found  it  their 
only  refuge.  After  all  this  suffering  came  the  Swedes 
once  more,  and  imposed  upon  the  unhappy  town  a 
tribute  of  30,000  dollars.  Rinkart  ventured  to  the 
camp  to  entreat  the  general  for  mercy,  and  when  it 
was  refused,  turned  to  the  citizens  who  followed  him, 
saying,  "  Come,  my  children,  we  can  find  no  hearing, 
no  mercy  with  men,  let  us  take  refuge  with  God." 
He  fell  on  his  knees,  and  prayed  with  such  touching 
earnestness  that  the  Swedish  general  relented,  and 
lowered  his  demand  at  last  to  2,000  florins.  So 
great  were  Rinkart's  own  losses  and  charities  that  he 
had  the  utmost  difficulty  in  finding  bread  and  clothes 
for  his  children,  and  was  forced  to  mortgage  his 
future  income  for  several  years.  Yet  how  little  his 
spirit  was  broken  by  all  these  calamities  is  shown 
by  this  hymn  and  others  that  he  wrote  ;  some  in- 
deed speaking  of  his  country's  sorrows,  but  all 
breathing  the  same  spirit  of  unbounded  trust  and 
readiness  to  give  thanks. 

Still  more  natural  was  it  that  at  such  a  time  the 
heavy  sorrow,  the  ceaseless  anxieties  of  earthly  life, 
and  the  intense  longing  for  the  peace  and  joy  of 
heaven,  should   find   a  voice   in   song;   and   of  this 


i84         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

class  is   the  lovely  hymn    of  Meyfart,    professor   of 
theology  at  Erfurt,  who  died  in  1642, 

"  Jerusalem,  thou  city  fair  and  high,"^ 

and  so  are  several  of  the  hymns  of  Simon  Dach  of 
Konigsberg.  At  Konigsberg  in  those  stormy  days 
lived  a  little  knot  of  friends  who  by  no  means  escaped 
their  share  of  trouble,  but  found  solace  under  it  in 
their  religion,  their  mutual  friendship,  and  the  practice 
of  music  and  poetry.  The  eldest  of  them  was  George 
Weissel,  pastor  of  one  of  the  churches  ;  and  next  to 
him  was  Robert  Roberthin,  a  layman  high  in  office 
under  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  and  able  from  his 
position  occasionally  to  protect  and  assist  his  friends. 
He  was  also  a  personal  friend  of  Opitz,  and  was  the- 
first  to  introduce  the  new  Silesian  style  of  verse 
into  the  more  barbarous  Prussia.  Then  came  Simon 
Dach  professor  of  poetry,  and  Thilo  professor  of_ 
rhetoric  in  the  university,  and  Heinrich  Albert  the 
organist  of  the  cathedral.  All  these  men  wrote  hymns 
or  sacred  poems,  and  Dach  and  Albert  also  composed 
chorales.  Albert  especially  was  a  very  distinguished 
musician,  and  he  was  the  author  both  of  the  words 
and  the  flowing  melody  of  that  morning  hymn, 

"God,  who  madest  earth  and  heaven," ^ 

which  is  still  not  infrequently  played  at  early 
morning  in  some  of  the  quiet  little  German  country 
towns  or  baths.  He  composed  airs  to  many  of 
Dach's  poems,  and  thus  helped  much  in  their  rapid 
diffusion  among  the  people  ;  and  the  little  band  of 
friends  often  assembled  in  a  garden  he  had  purchased 

1  "Jerusalem  du  hachgebante  Stadt." 

2  "  Gott  des  Himmels  und  der  Erden." 


SIMON  DACH.  185 


outside  Konigsberg  to  hear  some  new  poem  or 
melody  in  the  summer-house.  Dach  was  however 
the  most  gifted  of  the  group,  and  ranks  high  among 
German  poets  for  the  sweetness  of  form  and  depth 
of  tender  contemplative  emotion  to  be  found  in  his 
verse.  A  little  love-song  of  his,  written  when  court- 
ing the  daughter  of  a  neighbouring  clergyman,  has 
become  one  of  the  best  known  of  the  German  popular 
songs,  and  is  familiar  to  English  readers  in  Mr.  Long- 
fellow's version  of  "  Annie  of  Tharau." 

Of  his  hymns,  many  of  which  are  to  be  found  in  all 
German  hymn-books,  we  give  the  following,  written 
during  the  long  and  painful  illness  which  preceded 
his  death : — 

HEAVEN. 

O  ye  halls  of  Heaven, 
Where  the  holy  have  their  home, 

They  whose  hearts  were  riven, 
But  through  faith  have  overcome ; 

They  who  here  on  earth 

Knew  not  joy  or  mirth : 

Thee  I  greet,  fair  Home, 
Thee  o'er  all  things  else  I  seek  ; 

For  o'er  earth  I  roam 
Desolate,  and  sad,  and  weak, 

Never  free  below 

From  some  cross  or  woe. 


Only  for  thy  sake 
Have  I  strength  not  to  despair, 

But  my  heart's  long  ache 
Willingly,  nay  gladly,  bear  ; 

Sweet  when  I  look  up 

Grows  my  bitter  cup. 


i86  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Did  not  my  poor  heart 
Cherish  yearning  hope  for  thee, 

Long  ago  its  smart 
Had  been  all  too  sore  for  me ; 

Never  can  my  breast 

Find  elsewhere  a  rest. 

God,  Thou  knowest  well 
What  the  pain  that  hurts  me  sore, 

Where  my  thoughts  must  dwell, 
Grieving  hourly  o'er  and  o'er ; 

Thou  and  I  alone 

Hear  that  inner  moan. 

But  if  I  not  yet 
Bear  a  pilgrim's  chastened  soul, 

If  I  could  forget, — 
Let  fresh  trials  o'er  me  roll ; 

Thou,  my  God,  wilt  bear 

More  than  half  my  care. 

Let  this  life  to  me 
Ever  grow  more  waste  and  drear, 

If  that  so  to  Thee 
I  may  cling  more  firm  and  near. 

And  no  dread  of  death 

Shake  or  chill  my  faith. 

Ah  !  in  that  fair  place 
Shall  I  not  drink  deep  of  joy, 

When  I  see  Thy  face, 
When  I  meet  Thy  loving  eye, 

When,  like  angels  bright, 

I  am  clothed  in  light ! 

O  ye  halls  of  Heaven, 
Where  the  holy  have  their  home  ! 
Be  the  signal  given. 


ROBERT  ROBERTHIN.  187 

End  my  griefs  and  bid  me  come  ; 
All  I  long  for  is 
Soon  to  see  thy  bliss. 

Of  Roberthin  we  give  a  specimen  of  a  different 
style,  earnest  and  sensible,  but  more  commonplace  in 
expression  and  less  fervent  than  Dach. 

MAY-TIME  IN  WAR. 

Worthy  of  praise  the  Master-hand 

That  hath  created  all, 
And  Father-like,  by  sea  and  land, 

Where'er  our  eye  can  fall, 
Preserves  and  feeds  His  creatures  here. 

And  sends  us  once  again 
The  lovely  flower-time  of  the  year 

To  gladden  hill  and  plain. 

'Tis  May  that  brings  to  every  sense 

A  joy  so  keen  and  fit. 
Her  name  can  please  when  she  is  hence 

Whene'er  we  think  of  it 
The  loveliest  month  of  all  the  year 

Is  round  us  ever}'where  ; 
The  winds  blow  soft,  the  sun  is  clear, 

And  sweet  and  pure  the  air. 

The  plains  are  rich  with  many  a  hue. 

The  forests  with  young  shoots  ; 
Heaven's  blessing  seems  to  stream  anew 

O'er  earth  and  all  her  fruits. 
The  nightingale  pours  forth  her  lays 

From  every  little  wood, 
Doing  her  best  to  sing  God's  praise 

And  tell  us  He  is  good. 


1 88         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

The  bees  fly  forth  in  busy  swarm, 

Their  honey  home  to  bring, 
The  swallow  builds  its  nest  so  warm. 

The  lark  begins  to  sing  ; 
No  creature  but  can  now  be  glad, 

Its  heart's  desire  can  still ; 
Man  only  is  distraught  and  sad 

Through  his  own  darkened  will : 

Man  who  can  ne'er  with  firmness  wait, 

Nor  to  one  aim  be  true, 
But  must  embitter  his  own  fate. 

And  his  own  death  pursue ; 
Whose  life  at  best  so  swiftly  past, 

A  short,  uncertain  day, 
Himself  in  deeper  gloom  must  cast. 

Shut  from  God's  quickening  ray. 

How  like  a  child  his  pride  he  feed's 

With  Reason  ; — w^ould  he  prove 
His  boasted  Reason  by  his  deeds 

Of  faith,  and  peace,  and  love  ! 
Or  learn  from  God,  the  Only  Wise, 

To  rule  his  actions  well ; 
Then  earth  might  be  a  Paradise, 

Man  makes  it  now  a  hell. 

The  two  most  famous  hymn-writers  of  this  time 
were,  however,  Johann  von  Rist  and  Johann  Heer- 
mann.  Rist  was  born  in  1607,  the  son  of  a  pastor  at 
a  village  close  to  Hamburg,  and  was  destined  from  the 
first  by  his  father  to  the  study  of  theology.  As  a 
youth  he  was  distinguished  by  precocious  and  varied 
talent ;  he  visited  several  universities,  including 
Leipsic,  Utrecht,  and  Leyden,  and   studied   mathe- 


JOHANN  VON  RIST.  189 

matics,  chemistry,  and  medicine,  as  well  as  divinity. 
Still  quite  a  young  man,  he  returned  to  Hamburg 
with  the  reputation  of  a  great  traveller,  scholar,  and 
poet,  and  was  at  once  appointed  to  a  church  just 
outside  Hamburg,  on  the  banks  of  the  Elbe.  Here 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  at  first  pleasantly 
enough,  but  in  the  later  years  of  the  war  suffering 
like  others  severely  under  its  scarcity,  terror,  and  pesti- 
lence. He  was  an  active  pastor  and  a  great  preacher, 
and  insisted  much  on  a  certain  strictness  of  life ; 
for  instance,  he  persuaded  his  people  to  abolish  the 
customary  merrymakings  at  Candlemas.  Though  he 
was  a  very  strict  Lutheran  in  doctrine,  he  was  accused 
by  some  of  the  bigoted  Lutherans  of  preaching  too 
little  against  heresy  and  on  controverted  questions. 
His  reply  was  "  that  he  believed  there  were  not  above 
^i  couple  of  strangers  in  his  congregation  who  held 
false  doctrine,  but  plenty  of  people  who  led  sinful 
lives ;  and  to  accuse  men  of  heresy  never  produced 
a  living,  fruitful  faith  in  them,  only  pride  and  impulses 
of  hatred."  But  if  he  wisely  did  not  preach  contro- 
versy, he  had  no  objection  to  print  it,  and  he  became 
involved  in  many  very  acrimonious  disputes,  theo- 
logical and  literary.  He  was  in  correspondence  with 
all  the  principal  clergymen  and  authors  of  his  time, 
''  so  that  scarce  a  day  passed  on  which  he  did  not 
receive  a  letter,"  then  a  matter  of  great  wonderment. 
But  he  was  most  celebrated  for  his  religious  poems 
and  hymns,  of  which  he  published  ten  collections, 
containing  between  600  and  /(X)  pieces,  intended  to 
supply  every  possible  requirement  of  public  worship 
or  private  experience.  That  in  such  a  mass  of 
writings  on  a  limited  range  of  subjects  there  should 


I90         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

be  a  great  deal  that  is  very  watery  and  poor  was 
inevitable ;  many  of  his  poems  are  evidently  manu- 
factured to  order ;  others  in  the  attempt  to  attain  a 
little  individuality  sink  into  depths  of  bombast  and 
bad  taste ;  the  wonder  is  rather  that  so  many  are 
really  good,  and  some  belong  to  the  first  rank  of 
hymns.  In  his  own  day  they  were  all  admired  :  he 
was  the  most  fertile,  and  next  to  Opitz  certainly  the 
most  favourite,  poet  of  the  time.  Honours  poured  in 
upon  him  :  he  attained  the  highest  titles  in  Church 
and  State  open  to  a  clergyman,  and  received  from 
the  Emperor  the  crown  of  poet-laureate,  and  a  patent 
of  nobility.  He  founded  a  society  of  "  Swans  of  the 
Elbe,"  of  which  he  was  the  head,  as  a  sort  of  offshoot 
of  the  great  Fruit-bearing  Society,  and  by  the  mem- 
bers of  this  order,  and  indeed  by  many  others  of  his 
contemporaries,  he  is  lauded  as  the  Northern  Apollo, 
the  Cimbrian  Swan,  the  God  of  the  German  Par- 
nassus ;  a  certain  little  hill  near  his  residence,  where 
he  was  accustomed  to  write  his  verses,  being  the 
Parnassus  in  question.  His  first  volume  of  poems, 
"The  Poetical  Pleasure  Garden,"  was  partly  secular, 
but  his  after-productions  were  almost  exclusively 
sacred,  they  were  caught  up  eagerly  by  the 
musicians  of  the  day,  and  quickly  found  their  way 
into  congregational  use  in  Evangelical  Germany, 
while  even  among  the  Roman  Catholics  they  were 
read  with  delight,  and  one  Empress  lamented,  **  that 
it  were  a  great  pity  if  the  writer  of  such  hymns 
should  be  sent  to  hell."  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty, 
in  1667. 

In  his  youth  Rist  is  said  to  have  suffered  much 
from  mental  conflicts,  and  one  or  two  of  his  peniten- 


yOHANN  VON  RIST.  191 

tial  hymns  speak  of  such  experience  ;  but  his  general 
tone  is  rather  one  of  unhesitating  faith  and  courage, 
and  fervid  love  to  the  Saviour,  such  as  breathe  through 
his  hymns  for  Advent,  and  for  the  Holy  Communion, 
of  which  two, 

'^  O  Living  Bread  from  heaven," 
and  another, 

"  O  Jesu,  Sun  ot  gladness," 

are  still  in  constant  use.  Another  hymn  which, 
partly  from  its  noble  and  pathetic  melody,  has  be- 
come a  universal  favourite,  and  the  pattern  on  which 
many  others  have  been  written,  is  the  following  one 
on  the  Entombment.  Rist  himself  says  that  he  found 
the  first  verse  in  a  collection  of  religious  popular 
songs,  and  liked  it  so  much  that  he  wrote  the  others 
to  it. 

EASTER  EVE. 

O  darkest  woe ! 

Ye  tears,  forth  flow  ! 
Has  earth  so  sad  a  wonder? 
God  the  Father's  only  Son 
Now  lies  buried  yonder. 

O  son  of  man, 

It  was  the  ban 
Of  death  on  thee  that  brought  Him 

Down  to  suffer  for  thy  sins. 
And  such  woe  hath  wrought  Him. 

Behold  thy  Lord, 

The  I^amb  of  God, 
Blood-sprinkled  lies  before  thee, 
Pouring  out  His  life  that  He 
May  to  life  restore  thee. 


192         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

O  Ground  of  faith, 

Laid  low  in  death ; 
Sweet  lips  now  silent  sleeping  ! 

Surely  all  that  live  must  mourn 
Here  with  bitter  weeping. 

Yea,  blest  is  he 
Whose  heart  shall  be 
Fixed  here,  who  apprehendeth 
\Vhy  the  Lord  of  Glory  thus 
To  the  grave  descendeth. 

O  Jesu  blest, 
My  help  and  rest ! 
With  tears  I  pray.  Lord  hear  me, 
Make  me  love  Thee  to  the  last, 
And  in  death  be  near  me. 

As  many  hymns  of  Rist's  are  accessible  to  the 
English  reader,  we  choose  one  that  is  less  known,  but 
that  strongly  illustrates  his  character. 

THE  TRUE  JOY. 

Now  God  be  praised,  and  God  alone  ! 

The  Source  of  Joy  Thou  art ; 
Thy  love  no  stint  or  bound  hath  known. 

But  loves  a  happy  heart, 
And  sends  full  many  a  bright  clear  day 
To  cheer  us  on  our  mortal  way, 

Bids  many  a  cloud  depart. 

Yea,  Lord,  I  thank  Thy  gracious  power 

That  hath  bestowed  on  me 
A  mind  that  lives  from  hour  to  hour 

From  sad  foreboding  free ; 


yOHANN  VON  RIST.  193 

A  mouth  that  Thou  hast  made  so  glad, 
It  smiles  when  other  lips  are  sad, 
And  fails  the  trembling  knee. 

But  Thou  so  oft  hast  blessings  shed, 

So  oft  bade  sorrow  cease, 
That  I  with  joy  can  eat  my  bread, 

And  lay  me  down  in  peace  ; 
In  Thy  hands  only  lies  my  health, 
'Tis  Thou  my  honour  and  my  wealth 

Canst  lessen  or  increase. 

And  so  with  joy  I  drink  my  cup, 

And  all  this  heart  of  mine, 
O  faithful  God,  to  Thee  looks  up, 

And  sings  when  Thou  dost  shine  ; 
With  joy  its  daily  task  doth  greet, 
And  doth  its  utmost,  as  is  meet — 

But,  Lord,  success  is  Thine. 

Then  take  not,  Lord,  this  joy  away, 

But  let  me  cleave  to  Thee ; 
Let  pining  melancholy  stay 

For  ever  far  from  me, 
Nor  sadness  make  me  slow  to  hear 
When  Thou,  O  Lord,  art  drawing  near, 

And  my  heart's  guest  wouldst  be. 

Thy  strength  and  solace  let  me  prove. 

And  bid  my  soul  to  know 
Who  loveth  Thee  with  childlike  love, 

No  trial,  fear,  or  woe, 
Nor  Satan's  self  can  harm,  nor  death ; 
A  friend  of  God,  a  man  of  faith, 

Can  conquer  every  foe. 

S.L.  VI.  O 


194         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Mere  earthly  pleasure  cannot  please, 

It  were  not  to  my  mind 
To  live  in  proud,  luxurious  ease. 

And  leave  much  gold  behind  ; 
My  highest  aim,  while  here  I  dwell. 
Is  to  live  piously  and  well. 

To  Thy  will  all  resigned. 

And  ever  do  I  take  delight, 

My  Maker,  to  behold 
Thy  flowery  earth,  Thy  sun's  dear  light, 

All  things  Thy  hand  doth  mould, 
All  living  creatures  that  by  field. 
Or  flood,  or  air,  Thy  praises  yield. 

Who  formed  them  from  of  old. 

So  grant  me  then  in  weal  and  woe 

Joyful  and  true  to  be ; 
And  when  life's  lamp  is  burning  low 

And  death  at  hand  I  see, 
Then  let  this  joy  pierce  through  its  pain, 
And  turn  my  very  death  to  gain 

Of  endless  joys  with  Thee. 

Born  in  1585  at  Rauten  in  Silesia,  the  youth  and 
early  manhood  of  Johann  Heermann  fell  in  the  com- 
paratively quiet  times  that  preceded  the  great  war, 
when  people  still  had  leisure  for  tranquil  intellectual 
enjoyments.  Even  at  school  the  talent  displayed  in 
young  Heermann's  Latin  orations,  and  the  grace  of 
his  manner,  attracted  the  notice  of  some  of  the  great 
noble  families  of  Silesia ;  and  from  one  he  received 
the  means  of  travel,  from  another,  on  his  return,  the 
living  of  Koben.  Here  he  had  six  peaceful  years, 
"  the  Sabbath  of  his  life ; "  happy  in  his  work,  his 


yOHANN  HEERMANN.  195 

marriage,  his  friendship  with  the  family  of  Von 
Kottwitz,  and  his  literary  labours,  which  were  already 
rendering  him  distinguished  as  a  writer  of  Latin 
poems  and  epigrams.  But  in  1617  his  troubles  began  : 
first  came  the  death  of  his  wife ;  then  the  failure  of 
his  own  health,  which  henceforward  caused  him  great 
suffering  throughout  his  life ;  and  then  the  war. 

No  part  of  Germany  suffered  more  in  the  war  than 
Silesia.  It  was  the  constant  battle-field  of  the  con- 
tending parties,  and  its  peculiar  position  entailed  on 
it  a  fearful  amount  of  religious  persecution.  The 
Hussite  tendencies  among  its  people,  who  were  partly 
of  Slavonic  race,  opened  the  way  for  the  Reformation, 
which  was  very  soon  embraced  by  many  of  the  great 
noble  families,  as  well  as  generally  by  the  towns.  But 
Silesia  belonged  to  the  House  of  Austria,  and  hence 
its  central  government  and  higher  ecclesiastics  re- 
mained attached  to  Rome.  For  some  time  it  was 
happy  in  princes  and  bishops  who  respected  the 
toleration  secured  by  the  Peace  of  Passau  ;  but  in 
1609  a  king  succeeded  who  was  the  bitter  foe  of  all 
Protestants,  and  was  warmly  supported  by  Bishop 
Charles  of  Breslau,  a  brother  of  the  Emperor.  Hence 
whenever  in  the  course  of  the  war  a  district  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Imperialists,  the  pastors  were  imme- 
diately turned  out  of  their  churches,  mass  was  cele- 
brated, and  the  people  were  forced  by  the  greatest 
oppression  to  accept  Jesuit  priests.  When  the  Swedes 
came,  the  Jesuits  would  be  dispossessed  and  the 
Evangelical  pastors  restored,  to  be  again  banished  at 
the  next  reverse  of  fortune.  Finally,  after  the  war 
was  over  and  Silesia  was  left  in  the  hands  of  Austria, 
the    Evangelical    religion   was    almost   entirely   sup- 

o  2 


196  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


pressed,  only  three  towns  being  permitted  to  erect 
outside  their  walls  one  small  wooden  building  for  the 
performance  of  evangelical  worship.     It  was  during 
the  years  1623  to  1638 — fifteen  long  years  ! — that  the 
sufferings  of  Silesia  were  at  their  height.     More  than 
once  it  was  devastated  by  regiments  of  wild  Poles  and 
Cossacks  under  General   Dohna,  who  was  commis- 
sioned to  re-introduce  the  Romanist  religion.      He 
boasted  that  he  performed  greater  miracles  than  St. 
Peter ;  for  St.  Peter  converted  thousands  by  a  sermon, 
but  he  converted  thousands  without  a  sermon.     His 
method  of  proselytism  was  to  quarter  his  soldiers  on 
the  principal  Evangelical  inhabitants  of  the  place,  and 
allow  them  to  exercise  what   licence   they  pleased, 
until  the  father  of  the  household  produced  a  certificate 
from  the  priest  of  having  been  to  confession ;  then 
they  would  be  removed  to  some  other  house,  where 
the  same  process  was  repeated.     So  great  was  the 
terror  inspired  by  these  troops,  that  in  some  places 
the  residents  came  out  to  meet  them  with  protesta- 
tions of  their  readiness   to  embrace  Romanism  ;    in 
others  the   population  emigrated   e7i  masse  at  their 
approach.     During  this  period  Koben  was  plundered 
four  times,  on  each  of  which  occasions  Heermann  lost 
all  his  moveable   possessions ;  he  was  frequently  in 
danger  of  his  life  ;  was  several  times  obliged  to  flee, 
and  once  had  to  remain  a  fugitive  in  concealment  for 
seventeen  weeks.     But  it  was  in  the  midst  of  all  these 
troubles  that    he    published,    in    1630,    his    "  Devoti 
Musica  Cordis,"  a  volume  of  original  hymns  which  at 
once  made   a   profound   impression,  and  which  was 
soon  followed  by  two  more.     These  hymns  were  the 
first  in  which   the   correct  and    elegant  versification 


y  OH  ANN  HEERMANN.  197 

of  Opitz  was  applied  to  religious  subjects,  but  they 
possessed  far  higher  merits  than  this  ;  they  are  dis- 
tinguished by  great  depth  and  tenderness  of  feeling, 
by  an  intense  love  of  the  Saviour,  and  earnest  but  not 
self-conscious  humility,  while  in  form  they  are  sweet 
and  musical,  though  the  thought  sometimes  is  too 
much  expanded.  A  remarkably  large  number  have 
made  for  themselves  a  permanent  place  in  the 
hymnology  of  the  German  Church,  and  several  of 
the  most  beautiful  among  them  are  becoming  known 
in  England  through  translations,  especially  those  on 
the  Passion.  We  give  here  two  that  touchingly  refer 
to  the  sorrows  of  his  country  and  church : — 

A  SONG  OF  TEARS. 

Ah  !  Lord  our  God,  let  them  not  be  confounded 
Who,  though  by  want,  and  woe,  and  pain  surrounded, 
Yet  day  and  night  still  hope  Thy  help  to  see, 
And  cry  to  Thee. 

But  put  to  shame  Thy  foes,  who  breathe  defiance. 
And  make  their  own  vain  might  their  sole  reliance. 
And  turn,  oh  turn  to  those  who  trust  Thy  Word  : 
Have  pity.  Lord  ! 

Against  our  foes  some  succour  quickly  send  us ; 
If  Thou  but  speak  the  word  they  shall  not  end  us, 
But  change  to  friends,  lay  down  their  useless  arms. 
And  cease  all  harms. 

We  stand  bereft  of  help,  and  poor  and  lonely, 
'Twere  vain  to  trust  in  man ; — with  Thee,  Lord,  only 
We  yet  may  dare  great  deeds  whoe'er  oppose, 
And  quell  our  foes. 


)8  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Thou  art  our  Champion  who  canst  overthrow  them, 
And  save  the  little  flock  now  crushed  below  them, 
We  trust  in  Thee ;  Helper,  Thy  help  we  claim 
In  Jesu's  name  !     Amen. 

A  SONG  OF  COMFORT. 
Zion  mourns  in  fear  and  anguish, 

Zion,  city  of  our  God  : 
"  Ah,"  she  saith,  "  how  sore  I  languish, 

Bowed  beneath  how  hard  a  load  ; 
God  hath  sure  forsook  me  quite, 
And  forgot  my  evil  plight ;" — 
Nay,  he  chose  thee,  and  thou  art 
Safely  borne  within  His  heart. 

"  Once,"  she  mourns,  "  He  promised  plainly 
That  His  help  should  aye  be  near, 

Yet  1  now  must  seek  Him  vainly 
In  my  days  of  woe  and  fear. 

Will  he  then  for  evermore 

Keep  His  anger,  and  no  more 

Look  ^vith  pity  on  the  poor, 

And  behold  what  they  endure?" 

"Zion,  surely  I  have  loved  thee," 
Thus  to  her  the  Highest  saith, 

"  True,  that  many  woes  have  proved  thee. 
And  thy  soul  is  sad  to  death. 

Yet  now  cast  thy  griefs  behind ; 

Where  wilt  thou  a  mother  find 

For  her  babe  will  not  provide. 

Or  can  hate  it,  though  she  chide  ? 

"  Nay,  and  couldst  thou  find  a  mother 
Who  forgot  her  infant's  claim, 

Or  whose  wrath  her  love  could  smother. 
Yet  would  I  be  still  the  same ; 


yOHANN  HEERMANN.  199 

For  my  truth  is  pledged  to  thee, 
Zion,  thou  art  dear  to  me, 
Thou  within  my  heart  art  set. 
And  I  never  can  forget. 

"  Let  not  Satan  make  thee  craven, 

He  can  fright  but  cannot  harm, 
On  My  hands  thy  name  is  graven, 

And  thy  shield  is  still  My  arm. 
How  then  could  it  other  be 
Than  that  I  must  think  of  thee, 
And  must  build  again  thy  walls, 
And  be  true  whate'er  befalls  ? 

'•  Thou  before  my  eyes  art  ever. 

In  my  bosom  thou  art  laid 
As  a  nursing  child,  and  never 

Shalt  thou  lack  My  timely  aid. 
Thee  and  Me  no  time  nor  stress. 
War,  nor  danger,  nor  distress, 
No,  nor  Satan's  self  can  part, — 
Only  be  thou  strong  of  heart." 

In  1638  Heermann's  health  became  so  much  worse 
that  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  his  charge  at  Koben 
altogether,  and  the  last  nine  years  of  his  life  were 
spent  in  extreme  distress  from  an  afifection  resembling 
incessant  catarrh  and  low  fever  of  a  very  severe 
character.  But  he  had  a  kind  nurse  in  his  second 
wife  ;  whenever  he  rallied,  study  and  writing  were 
his  recreations,  and  he  published  successively  a 
number  of  devotional  works.  Another  severe  trial 
befell  him  during  this  period  of  sickness :  his  eldest 
son,  a  young  man  of  much  promise,  fell  under  the 
influence  of  the  Jesuits  at  Bresiau,  and  was  on  the 
point  of  openly  joining  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 


oo         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

The  remonstrances  and  arguments  of  his  father,  how- 
ever, recalled  him  to  the  evangelical  faith  in  which  he 
had  been  brought  up ;  but  his  health  gave  way,  and 
he  died  in  1643  of  a  slow  fever,  which  was  commonly 
supposed  to  be  the  effect  of  a  powder  given  him  by 
the  Jesuits  when  he  quitted  them.  At  last,  in  1647, 
Heermann  himself  died,  after  many  weeks  of  the 
greatest  prostration,  which  he  bore  with  unwearied 
patience.  It  was  in  the  course  of  this  last  illness 
that  he  wrote  a  large  number  of  verses  and  short 
poems,  from  which  we  choose  the  following  "  Sighs  " 
and  "  Lament,"  as  he  himself  calls  them  : — 

IN  DISTRESS  OF  MIND. 

Jesu,  Saviour,  since  that  Thou 

Camest  once  from  heaven, 
Come,  oh  come  to  aid  me  now, 

For  I  long  have  striven. 
Fear  and  pain  assail  me  sore, 
I  can  bear  and  do  no  more ; 
Save  me  from  this  bitterness 
Ere  it  slay  me  with  distress. 


"  Thou  loving  Jesu  Christ,  who  once  as  man  wast  bom, 
I  too  am  but  a  man,  ah  !  leave  me  not  forlorn  ; 
Fear  hath  overwhelmed  my  soul :  O  help  me  !  Saviour,  save 
I  sink,  as  sinks  a  ship  beneath  the  engulphing  wave." 

IN  BODILY  PAIN. 
Jesu,  who  didst  stoop  to  prove 

Many  a  thousand  pains  for  me, 
When  that  heart  so  rich  in  love 

Bare  our  sins  upon  the  tree, 
Ah  !  by  all  those  woes  of  Thine, 
Soothe,  oh  soothe  these  pains  of  mine  ! 


J  OH  ANN  HEERMANN. 


Help,  O  Helper  !  Thou  alone, 

None  but  Thou,  canst  still  this  pain, 

Hearken  pitying  to  my  moan, 
Look  on  me  in  love  again  ; 

Praises  from  my  lips  shall  flow 

If  Thou  now  Thy  grace  wilt  show  ! 

IN  TEMPTATION. 

Jesu,  Victor  over  sin, 
Help  me  now  the  fight  to  win. 
Thou  didst  vanquish  once,  I  know, 
Him  who  seeks  my  overthrow  ; 
So  to  Thee  my  faith  will  cleave. 
And  her  hold  will  never  leave, 
Till  the  weary  battle's  done 
A.nd  the  final  triumph  won  ; 
For  I  too  through  Thee  may  win, 
Victor  over  death  and  sin. 

AT  TH£  approach  OF  DEATH. 

That  Death  is  at  my  door,  too  well  this  anguish  shows, 
Yet  I  will  fear  him  not.     I  bear  Thee  in  my  heart, 
Thou,  O  Lord  Jesu  Christ,  with  me,  nay,  in  me,  art. 

And  if  I  die,  Thou  wilt  the  gates  of  heaven  unclose. 

Why  was  I'hy  glorious  form  so  marred,  so  sadly  torn  ? 
Only  that  I  with  Thee  may  know  the  depths  of  joy 
Throughout  eternity.     Thou  dying  didst  destroy 

The  sting  of  Death,  and  make  our  foe  an  empty  scorn. 

Ah  then  forsake  me  not !     Hast  Thou  not  cleansed  me 
From  all  the  filth  of  sin  wherewith  I  was  defiled 
By  th'  arch-deceiver's  arts  ?    Then  let  me  as  a  child 

Now  fall  asleep  in  peace,  and  wake  in  joy  with  Thee. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PAUL   GERHARDT  AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES. 
A.D.    1620 — 1680. 

As  the  seventeenth  century  passed  on  to  its  zenith, 
the  promise  of  hterary  activity  given  by  its  earher 
years  was  not  fulfilled.  Opitz,  Flemming,  and  Gry- 
phius  were  certainly  not  stars  of  the  first  magnitude, 
but  at  least  they  shone  with  a  certain  steady  radiance 
as  the  brightest  points  among  a  luminous  cloud  of 
smaller  writers  ;  but  as  they  one  by  one  went  out 
no  others  took  their  place.  Yet  it  was  just  at  this 
time  that  the  religious  song  of  Germany  found  its 
purest  and  sweetest  expression  in  the  hymns  of  Paul 
Gerhardt,  who  may  be  said  to  be  the  typical  poet  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  as  Herbert  is  of  the  English. 
George  Herbert's  poems  are  meant  to  be  read  and 
meditated  upon ;  they  constantly  remind  us  that  the 
writer  was  a  man  of  high  breeding  and  culture,  no  less 
than  an  earnest  Christian  ;  Gerhardt's  are  intended 
to  be  set  to  music  and  sung  in  church,  or  learnt  by 
heart  by  the  children  at  home,  and  as  constantly  reveal 
the  homehness  and  simplicity,  the  deeply  devout  and 
quietly  courageous  spirit  of  the  Lutheran  pastor.  Of 
his  early  life  little  is  known.  He  was  born  in  1606, 
in  a  little  town,  Grafinhainichen,   in  Saxony,  where 


PAUL  GERHARDT.  203 

his  father  was  burgomaster.  The  whole  of  his  youth 
and  early  manhood  fell  in  the  time  of  war.  That  it 
must  have  been  a  period  full  of  disappointment  and 
hope  deferred  for  him,  is  clear  enough  when  we  find  a 
man  of  his  powers  at  the  age  of  forty-five  still  only  a 
private  tutor  and  candidate  for  holy  orders.  In  165 1 
he  was  living  in  this  capacity  in  the  family  of  an 
advocate  named  Berthold,  in  Berlin.  He  had  already 
written  many  hymns,  but  was  as  yet  unable  to 
publish  them ;  and  he  was  in  love  with  Berthold's 
daughter,  but  had  no  living  to  marry  upon.  About 
the  close  of  that  year  however,  the  living  of  a  country 
place  called  Mittenwalde  was  offered  him  :  he  was 
ordained,  and  in  1655  he  at  last  married  Anna  Maria 
Berthold.  At  Mittenwalde  he  passed  six  quiet  years, 
during  which  he  began  to  publish  his  hymns,  which 
immediately  attracted  great  attention,  and  were 
quickly  adopted  into  the  hymn-books  of  Brandenburg 
and  Saxony.  His  name  thus  became  known,  and  in 
1657  he  ^v^s  invited  to  the  great  church  of  St.  Nicholas, 
in  Berlin,  where  his  life  was  soon  both  a  busy  and 
an  honourable  one.  He  worked  most  assiduously 
and  successfully  in  his  pastoral  duties ;  he  brought  out 
many  hymns,  which  were  caught  up  by  the  people 
much  as  Luther's  had  been  of  old ;  and  he  was 
the  favourite  preacher  of  the  city,  whom  crowds 
flocked  to  hear.  He  is  described  to  us  as  a  man  of 
middle  height,  of  quiet  but  firm  and  cheerful  bearing ; 
while  his  preaching  is  said  to  have  been  very  earnest 
and  persuasive,  and  full  of  Christian  love  and  charity, 
which  he  practised  as  well  as  preached  by  never 
turning  a  beggar  from  his  doors,  and  receiving  widows 
and  orphans  who  needed   help  and  shelter  into  his 


204         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

own  house.  His  religion  and  his  temperament  alike 
made  him  cheerful,  and  not  all  the  many  disappoint- 
ments of  his  life  seem  ever  to  have  embittered  his 
mood ;  but  he  had  a  very  tender  and  scrupulous 
conscience,  and  wherever  a  question  of  conscience 
seemed  to  him  to  be  involved,  he  was  liable  to  great 
mental  conflict  and  an  exaggerated  estimate  of  trifles. 
In  theology  he  was  an  ardent  Lutheran,  and  ere  long 
his  zeal  for  his  Church  was  put  to  the  test. 

Prussia  was  at  that  time  governed  by  Frederick 
William  I.,  "  the  Great  Elector,"  whose  memory 
is  still  revered  in  the  country  as  the  founder  of  its 
greatness.  The  mass  of  his  people  were  Lutherans, 
but  he  himself  belonged  to  the  Reformed  Church, 
to  which  his  grandfather,  the  Elector  Sigismund, 
had  seceded  from  political  motives.  At  the  Peace 
of  Westphalia,  he  was  the  one  important  German 
prince  who  acted  as  spokesman  for  the  Calvinistic 
churches,  and  it  was  through  his  efforts  they  obtained 
the  same  legal  recognition  as  the  Lutherans.  His 
next  endeavour  was  to  make  peace  between  the 
two  Churches  within  his  own  dominions.  He  saw 
clearly  enough  the  waste  of  strength  and  the 
evil  passions  caused  by  their  disunion  and  perpetual 
controversies,  and  he  is  not  accused  of  any  unjust  bias 
or  partiality  towards  his  own  Church,  but  the  times 
were  not  then  ripe  for  such  an  attempt,  and  he  met 
with  little  success.  In  1662  and  1663  he  summoned 
the  leading  men  of  both  Churches  to  a  series  of  con- 
ferences on  the  points  of  dispute  between  them,  in 
the  hopes  of  thus  arriving  at  some  approximation  of 
opinion,  or  at  least  at  a  declaration  that  the  points 
of  difference   were    "  non-essential."     But   the  result 


PAUL  GERHARDT.  205 

was  the  precise  reverse .  of  the  Elector's  hopes  ;  the 
more  the  doctors  argued  the  farther  apart  they  found 
themselves.  The  Calvinism  of  those  days  was  not  of 
the  modified  type  to  which  we  are  accustomed,  but 
advocated  what  would  now  be  termed  "extreme  views," 
while  the  Lutherans,  on  the  other  hand,  were  very 
rigid  in  their  own  definitions  of  doctrine,  and  were  in 
the  habit  of  preaching  against  the  Reformed  Church 
with  a  scornful  and  bitter  vehemence,  Gerhardt, 
indeed,  was  not  among  those  who  did  so  ;  his  ser- 
mons, as  well  as  his  writings,  were  so  free  from  con- 
troversy that  many  Calvinists  attended  his  services, 
and  his  hymns  had  no  greater  admirer  than  the  pious 
Electress  Louisa,  who  herself  belonged  to  the  Re- 
formed Church.  But  the  whole  cast  of  his  thought 
was  intrinsically  anti-Calvinistic :  that  God  is  a  loving 
Father  over  all  His  creatures,  and  that  Christ  died 
for  all  men,  are  the  deepest,  ever-recurring  tones  of 
his  theology ;  and  hence  he  found  it  impossible  to 
allow  that  the  points  of  difference  between  himself 
and  the  Reformed  Church  were  "  non-essential." 
From  the  conferences  he  at  first  hoped  a  great  deal ; 
he  was  diligent  in  attending  them,  and  drew  up  most 
of  the  statements  in  explanation  or  defence  of  doc- 
trine on  the  Lutheran  side.  But  the  Elector,  wearied 
by  the  ill-success  of  these  meetings,  put  a  stop  to 
them  in  1664,  ^nd  published  an  edict  requiring  the 
ministers  of  both  communions  to  abstain  from  attack- 
ing each  other's  doctrines  in  the  pulpit  or  elsewhere 
with  harshness  or  want  of  charity;  and  in  1665  he 
announced  his  intention  of  demanding  from  every 
beneficed  Lutheran  clergyman  his  subscription  to  a 
document  pledging  himself  to  observe  the  terms  of 


2o6         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

this  edict.  This  demand  at  once  created  the  greatest 
excitement  throughout  the  country,  and  in  many- 
places  caused  disturbances ;  for  the  stricter  Lutherans, 
priests  and  people  alike,  regarded  it  as  prohibiting  the 
use  of  one  of  the  recognised  standards  of  the  Lutheran 
faith,  the  ''Formula  ConcordicE"  in  which  the  doctrines 
of  the  Reformed  Church  were  condemned  in  strong 
terms,  and  considered  it  therefore  to  be  an  infringe- 
ment on  their  legal  rights,  and  an  unwarrantable  in- 
terference on  the  part  of  the  civil  power  with  the  liberty 
of  preaching.  Accordingly  a  great  number  of  the 
clergy  refused  to  sign,  and  were  deposed  ;  and  these 
were  in  general  strongly  supported  by  their  flocks. 
Nearly  the  whole  of  the  Berlin  clergy  took  this  part, 
and  one  of  the  most  resolute  among  them  was  Paul 
Gerhardt,  who  being  very  ill  at  the  time,  assembled 
his  brethren  around  his  sick-bed,  and  entreated  them 
to  be  steadfast  in  asserting  their  right  to  freedom  of 
speech.  Such  a  man's  refusal  could  not  be  passed 
over,  and  early  in  1666  he  was  deprived  of  his  appoint- 
ment ;  and  when  it  appeared  that  many  of  his  congre- 
gation were  in  the  habit  of  resorting  to  his  private 
house  for  religious  counsel  and  worship,  he  was  in- 
terdicted from  performing  any  function  of  his  office 
even  in  private.  Of  his  deprivation  he  had  said  to 
some  condoling  friends  "  that  it  was  but  a  small  Berlin 
sort  of  martyrdom;"  but  this  last  prohibition  wounded 
him  deeply,  and  he  had  much  private  sorrow  at  the 
same  time.  Three  of  his  five  children  had  already 
died  in  infancy,  and  now  he  lost  one  of  his  two 
remaining  sons,  the  child  on  whose  death  he  wrote 
his  touching  hymn, 

"  Thou'rt  mine,  yes,  still  Thou  art  mine  own," 


PAUL  GERHARDT,  207 

while  his  wife,  worn  out  by  sorrow  and  anxiety,  fell 
into  a  long  and  slow  decline.  Many  of  his  most 
beautiful  hymns  were  written  at  this  time,  and  among 
others, 

"  If  God  be  on  my  side." 

Meanwhile  the  city  of  Berlin  did  not  take  the  loss 
of  its  favourite  preacher  quietly.  Meetings  were  held 
and  petitions  addressed  to  the  Elector — first  by  the 
burghers  and  guilds  of  trade,  then  by  the  Town 
Council,  and  finally  by  the  Estates  of  Brandenburg, 
whose  entreaty  was  said  to  have  the  support  in  private 
of  the  Electress  herself.  Then  the  Elector  gave  way, 
and  declared  that  considering  the  tender  conscience 
of  the  preacher  Paul  Gerhardt,  and  that  he  had  never 
been  guilty  of  bitterness  and  uncharitableness  in  the 
pulpit,  an  exception  should  be  made  in  his  case,  and 
he  should  be  permitted  to  resume  his  office  without 
subscription.  The  whole  city  was  rejoiced,  but  now 
a  new  difficulty  arose.  The  Elector  had  sent  word 
by  one  of  his  secretaries  to  Paul  Gerhardt  of  his 
re-appointment,  but  had  said  also  that  he  relied  on 
Gerhardt's  well-known  moderation  and  loyalty,  that 
even  without  subscription  he  would  act  in  conformity 
with  the  spirit  of  the  edict.  This  message  perplexed 
Gerhardt's  conscience  once  more  ;  an  implied  under- 
taking was,  he  said,  to  a  Christian  man  as  binding  as 
any  subscription  could  be,  and  he  therefore  felt 
himself  still  unable  to  accept  office  on  these  terms. 
A  long  period  of  fruitless  negotiations  ensued,  and 
much  mental  distress  on  Gerhardt's  part ;  for  these 
new  scruples  appeared  even  to  many  of  his  friends 
exaggerated.     But  how   real   they  were    to  himself, 


2o8  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

is    shown    by   his    persistency,    and    his    letters    to 
the  Town  Council  and  Elector.      "  It  was   only  the 
most  urgent  necessity,"  he  writes  to  the  latter,  "  which 
induced  me  to   retire  from  my  pastoral    office,  and 
should  I  now  accept  it  again  on  these  terms,  I  should 
do  myself  a  great  wrong ;  and,  so  to  speak,  with  my 
own  hands  inflict  on  my  soul  that  wound  which  I  had 
formerly,  with  such  deep  anguish  of  heart,  striven  to 
avert.     I  fear  that  God,  in  whose  presence  I  walk  on 
earth,  and   before  whose  judgment-seat  I  must  one 
day  appear ;  and  as  my  conscience  hath  spoken  from 
my  youth  up,  and  yet  speaks,  I  can  see  it  no  other- 
wise than  that  if  I  should  accept  my  office  I  should 
draw  on  myself  God's  wrath  and  punishment."     The 
Elector  now  commanded  the  Council  to  choose  some 
one  in  Gerhardt's  place;  and  Gerhardt  accepted  the 
post   of  Archdeacon   of    Liibben,    in    Saxony.     His 
removal  there  was,  however,  delayed  by  the  long  sick- 
ness and  death  of  his  wife  ;  and  it  was  not  till  1669 
that  he  entered  on  his  new  duties.     Here  he  spent 
the  last  seven  years  of  his  life ;  but  they  were  years 
of  sadness,  for  his  wife  was  gone,  his  only  child  had 
more  than  one  dangerous  illness,  and  he  was  living 
in  a  land  of  strangers.    Liibben  was  a  small  place,  and 
the  Town  Council  was  composed  of  rough  and  half- 
educated  people,  who  subjected  their  clergj^man  to 
many  annoyances.     His  refuge  and  refreshment  was 
in  his  gift  of  song,  "  under  circumstances  which,"  says 
one  of  his  contemporaries,  "would  have  made  most 
men  cry  rather  than  sing."     He  died  in  1676,  in  his 
seventieth  year,  and  his  last  words  were  a  line  from 
one  of  his  own  hymns — 

"  Us  no  death  has  power  to  kill." 


PAUL  GERHARDT.  toc) 


Compared   with   most   authors   of  his   time,  Paul 
Gerhardt  wrote  but  little.     He  composed  altogether 
one  hundred  and  twenty- three  hymns,  which  appeared 
at  intervals  from  the  year  1649  onwards,  many  of 
them  for  the  first  time  in  the  "  Praxis  Pietatis  Melica," 
a  collection  of  hymns  and  tunes  by  Johann  Criigen, 
the  famous  organist  and  composer  of  chorales.     After 
Gerhardt's  death  they  were   republished   separately, 
revised  from  his  own  MSS.  by  his  son.     As  a  poet 
he  undoubtedly  holds  the  highest  place  among  the 
hymn-writers  of  Germany.     His  hymns  seem  to  be 
the   spontaneous  outpouring   of  a   heart   that   over- 
flows with   love,  trust,  and   praise ;   his   language  is 
simple   and    pur,e ;    if  it  has   sometimes  a   touch  of 
homeliness,   it  has   no    vulgarism,^   and  at   times   it 
rises  to  a  beauty  and  grace,  which  always  give  the 
impression    of    being    unstudied,   yet    could    hardly 
have   been   improved    by   art.     His   tenderness   and 
fervour    never    degenerate    into    the    sentimentality 
and    petty   conceits  which   were    already   becoming 
fashionable  in  his  days ;  nor  his  penitence  and  sorrow 
into  that  morbid  despondency  which  we  find  in  Gry- 
phius,  and  for  which  the  disappointments  of  his  own 
life  might  have  furnished  some  excuse.     If  he  is  not 
altogether  free  from  the  long-windedness  and  repe- 
tition which  are  the  besetting  sins  of  so  many  German 
writers,  and  especially  hymn-writers,  he  at  least  more 
rarely  succumbs  to  them  :  and  in  his  days  they  were 
not  considered  a  blemish.     One  of  his  contemporaries, 
a  certain  Andreas  Bucholz,  who  wrote  a  great  deal 
of  religious  poetry  which  was  then  highly  esteemed 

The  only  h)nnn  which  does  not  deserve  this  commendation  is  a 
translation  trom  the  Latin. 

S.I..  VI.  p 


2IO        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

formally  announces  in  his  preface  that  he  has  spun 
out  his  poems  as  long  as  he  could,  for  he  observed 
that  when  people  were  reading  sacred  poems  at  home, 
they  preferred  long  ones.  Gervinus,  a  severe  judge 
of  sacred  poetry  in  general,  says  of  Gerhardt :  "  If 
one  man  among  the  poets  of  the  seventeenth  century 
makes  an  attractive  impression  on  us,  it  is  Gerhardt. 
He  recurred,  as  no  one  else  had  done,  to  Luther's 
genuine  type  of  the  popular  religious  song,  only  with 
such  modifications  as  the  altered  circumstances  de- 
manded. In  Luther's  time  the  old  wrathful,  implac- 
able God  of  the  Romanists  had  assumed  the  heavenly 
aspect  of  grace  and  compassion  ;  with  Gerhardt  the 
Merciful  and  Just  One  is  a  loving  and  benignant 
Man,  whom  he  addresses  with  reverential  intimacy. 
With  Luther,  it  was  the  belief  in  free  grace  and  the 
work  of  Atonement,  in  the  Redemption  which  had 
burst  the  gates  of  hell,  which  inspired  the  Christian 
singer  with  his  joyous  confidence ;  with  Gerhardt  it  is 
his  faith  in  the  love  of  God.  Like  the  old  poets  of 
the  people,  he  is  pious,  7ia'if,  earnest,  without  effort  or 
affectation  ;  his  style  is  as  simple  as  refreshing,  and 
attractive  as  his  tone  of  thought." 

Many  of  his  hymns  are  already  well  known  to 
English  readers  by  translations  from  the  time  of 
Wesley  downwards.  We  give  here  three  of  those 
less  frequently  to  be  met  with  '} — 

THE  HOPE  OF  THE  CONTRITE. 

Hence,  my  heart,  with  such  a  thought 
As  that  thou  art  cast  away  ! 

1  Two  verses  which  contain  merely  an  expansion  of  the  thought,  are 
omitted  from  each  of  these  hymns. 


PAUL  GERHARDT.  211 

Is  not  God's  Word  promise-fraught  ? 

Heed  not  then  what  others  say. 
Art  thou  evil  and  unjust  ? 
God  is  good,  be  He  Thy  trust. 
Art  thou  death-struck,  sin-defiled  ? 
Faint  not,  God  is  reconciled. 

Thou  art  sick,  like  other  men, 

Of  that  sore  disease  within. 
That  began  Avith  Adam,  when 

First  he  learned  to  yield  to  sin. 
But  despair  not,  God  can  cure, 
Only  make  repentance  sure ; 
Fear  not  that  thy  prayers  and  cries, 
Even  thine.  He  will  despise. 

His  no  bear's  or  lion's  heart, 

Only  thirsting  after  blood  ; 
His  compassions  swiftly  start. 

He  but  seeks  thy  highest  good. 
In  thy  Father's  heart  believe  ; 
O'er  our  griefs  He  too  doth  grieve. 
Is  afflicted  in  our  woe. 
Sorrow  for  our  death  doth  know. 

"  As  I  live,"  He  surely  saith, 

"  I  would  have  the  sinner  turn, 
Never  do  I  will  his  death, 

But  that  he  should  yield,  and  learn 
'Tis  my  joy  whene'er  a  child 
Back  is  won  from  wanderings  wild, 
Of  My  flock  I  would  not  spare 
E'en  the  least  and  lowest  there." 

Ah  !  no  shepherd  e'er,  as  He, 

Watched  for  every  sheep  that  errs  ! 

If  His  heart  thou  couldst  but  see, 
How  with  sorrowing  love  it  stirs, 
P  2 


212        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

How  it  thirsts  and  aches  and  yearns 
Over  one  who  heedless  turns, 
And  from  God  and  good  doth  rove, — 
Thou  must  weep  for  very  love. 

For  God  loves  not  only  those 

Who  are  safe  within  His  fold ; 
Nay,  He  loves  His  very  foes, 
Whom  that  Enemy  of  old 
Hath  seduced  with  lies  too  well, 
Till  weak  man  hath  dared  rebel 
Against  Him,  whose  lightest  word 
Through  the  universe  is  heard. 

Yet  God  seeks  them  by  His  care, 
And  through  all  the  hosts  of  heaven 

Joy  grows  brighter  even  there, 
When  the  bonds  of  sin  are  riven  ; 

Then  God's  pardon  covers  o'er 

All  the  evil  done  before. 

Every  dark  and  sinful  spot. 

All  is  buried  and  forgot. 

For  no  ocean's  mighty  force, 
And  no  fathomless  abyss, 
And  no  stream's  resistless  course. 

Match  a  love  so  vast  as  His ; 
Nought  are  they  to  what  He  pours 
Daily  through  this  life  of  ours. 
That  with  sin  we  daily  fill 
Striving  with  His  perfect  will. 

Rest,  O  heart,  then,  be  content ! 

Why  shouldst  thou  go  mourning  on  ? 
Why  thy  strength  in  toil  be  spent  ? 

More  than  thou  canst  need  is  won. 


PAUL  GERHARDT. 


Though  thy  guilt  may  seem  to  thee 
Deep  and  mighty  as  the  sea, 
'Tis  to  God  and  to  His  love 
What  a  finger's  strength  might  move. 

Open,  O  my  God,  the  gates 

Whence  such  tender  mercies  flow  ; 
Here  my  heart  with  longing  waits, 
Let  me  all  Thy  sweetness  know. 
Everywhere  and  every  hour 
Own  Thy  love's  constraining  power ; 
And  this  one  thing  I  implore. 
Never  let  me  grieve  Thee  more  ! 

THE  TRUST  OF  THE  TRIED. 
To  God's  all-gracious  heart  and  mind 

My  heart  and  mind  I  yield ; 
In  seeming  loss  my  gain  I  find, 

In  death,  life  stands  revealed. 
I  am  His  own  whose  glorious  throne 

In  highest  heaven  is  set ; 
Beneath  His  stroke  or  sorrow's  yoke 

His  heart  upholds  me  yet. 

There  is  but  one  thing  cannot  fail, 

That  is  my  Father's  love  ; 
A  sea  of  troubles  may  assail 

My  soul, — 'tis  but  to  prove 
And  train  my  mind,  by  warnings  kind, 

To  love  the  Good  through  pain  ; 
When  firm  I  stand,  full  soon  His  hand 

Can  raise  me  up  again. 

Yet  oft  we  think,  is  aught  withdrawn 
That  flesh  and  blood  desire, 

Our  joy  is  lost,  o'ercast  our  dawn, 
And  faith  and  courage  tire ; 


214         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

With  toil  and  care  our  hearts  we  wear, 
O'er  our  lost  hope  we  brood  ; 

Nor  think  that  all  that  doth  befall 
Is  meant  to  work  our  good. 

But  where  God  rules  it  must  be  so, 

It  must  bring  joy  again  ; 
What  now  we  deem  but  cross  and  woe 

Shall  turn  to  comfort  then. 
Have  patience  still,  His  gracious  will 

Through  thickest  clouds  shall  gleam  ; 
Then  torturing  fears,  and  hopeless  tears, 

Shall  vanish  like  a  dream. 

The  field  can  never  bear  its  fruits, 

Save  winter  storm  and  freeze  ; 
Man's  goodness  withers  at  its  roots 

In  days  of  constant  ease ; 
The  bitter  draught  of  aloes  quaffed, 

Health  tints  the  cheeks  once  more  ; 
So  to  our  heart  can  sorrow's  smart 

New  energy  restore. 

Then,  O  my  God,  with  joy  I  cast 

My  load  of  care  on  Thee ; 
Take  me,  and  while  this  life  shall  last 

Do  as  Thou  wilt  with  me. 
Send  weal  or  woe,  as  Thou  shalt  know 

Will  teach  me  their  true  worth. 
And  fit  me  best  to  stand  their  test. 

And  show  Thy  glory  forth. 

If  happy  sunshine  be  Thy  gift, 
With  joy  I  take  it,  Lord  ; 

If  o'er  dark  stormy  seas  I  drift, 
I  hear  Thy  guiding  word  ; 


PAUL  GERHARD T.                             215  ! 

-i 

If  lengthened  life,  with  blessings  rife,  { 

Before  my  feet  be  spread, 

So  Thou  my  Guide  wilt  still  abide,  j 

With  joy  that  path  I  tread.  \ 

.\ 

But  must  I  walk  the  vale  of  death  .5 

Through  sad  and  sunless  ways,  ': 

I  pass  along  in  quiet  faith,  ; 

Thy  glance  my  fear  allays  ;  '\ 

Through  the  dark  land  my  Shepherd's  hand  • 

Leads  to  an  end  so  bright, 

That  I  shall  there  mth  praise  declare  1 

That  all  God's  ways  are  right !  "; 

'\ 
i 

THE  MARRIAGE  OF  CHRISTIAN  HEARTS.  < 

'. 

Full  of  wonder,  full  of  art,  .  ■ 

Full  of  wisdom,  full  of  power,  ^ 

Full  of  grace  to  charm  the  heart,  -, 

Full  of  solace  hour  by  hour,  ''. 

Full  of  wonders,  ye  shall  prove 

Is  the  bond  of  wedded  love.  ^ 

Two  who  ne'er  upon  this  earth 

Have  each  other's  faces  seen,  v 

Never  from  their  hour  of  birth  3 

In  each  other's  thoughts  have  been,  i 

Find  their  hearts  and  hands  shall  meet  • 
In  a  bond  God  maketh  sweet 

Here  a  father  trains  his  child,  ", 

There  another  watches  his  :  ^ 

Driven  by  winds  uncertain,  wild,  - 
Sure  their  paths  through  life  must  miss ; 

Nay,  but  when  the  time  is  there,  'j 

See  a  well-consorted  pair.  .1 


216        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


Her^  a  prudent  son  has  grown,  '; 

There  a  maid  in  virtue  drest ;  -i 

Each  one  is  the  other's  crown,  , 

Each  the  other's  sweetest  rest,  ^ 
Each  the  other's  joy  and  hght, 
But  they  know  it  not  aright ; 

Till  it  pleaseth  Him  who  holds  J 

All  the  world  within  His  hand,  '] 

Then  the  fated  hour  unfolds  j 

All  the  joy  that  He  hath  planned,  « 

And  in  act  and  deed  we  see  \ 

The  long-hidden  mystery.  '; 

Each  one  finds  and  each  one  takes  '*■ 

What  the  Highest  for  him  chose  ;  • 

For  where  Heaven  the  union  makes  ] 

Vainly  Earth  would  interpose;  5 

And  what  Heaven  hath  bid  befall  '\ 

Wisely  is  ordained  for  all.  I 

"  This  or  that  were  otherwise  >. 

Better  ordered,"  oft  we  say ;  j 

But  as  darkness  fondly  tries  \ 

E'er  to  match  the  glorious  day,  , 
So  must  fail  our  human  sense 

Scanning  God's  omnipotence.  ! 

Where  He  joins,  Man,  place  no  bar !  ' 

Well  He  knows  who  best  should  meet ; 

All  our  schemes  blind  errors  mar,  • 

His  thought  only  is  complete  ;  i 

Only  His  work  standeth  fast,  ' 

When  nought  else  endures  the  blast  ''^ 

See  the  children  of  His  love 

Who  in  holy  marriage  dwell,  ■' 

In  what  tranquil  joy  they  move,  > 

A 

i 


PAUL  GERHARDT.  217 


How  their  Father  prospers  well 
All  their  work  to  happy  ends, 
And  His  blessing  daily  sends  : 

How  their  love  ne'er  fades  away, 
But  in  freshest  beauty  blooms, 

When  all  other  loves  decay, 
Other  light  is  lost  in  glooms, 

Other  truth  no  more  is  true, 

Still  their  constancy  is  new. 

For  that  love  hath  hidden  springs, 
Where  its  youth  is  aye  renewed  ; 

Through  their  daily  talk  it  sings, 
Sweetens  all  their  daily  food. 

Gives  their  hearts  a  quiet  rest, 

E'en  when  toil  and  care-opprest. 

Comes  there  aught  of  pain  and  loss, 
Yet  this  love  is  calm  and  still, 

Cheerfully  accepts  the  cross. 
Thinks  it  is  our  Father's  will. 

Trusts  the  future  time  will  bring 

Brighter  days  upon  its  wing. 

Thus  through  all  their  lifetime  rolls 
God's  rich  blessing  like  a  stream. 

Feeds  their  bodies,  heals  their  souls. 
Strengthens  every  prop  and  beam. 

Makes  the  house  once  poor  and  small. 

Rich  and  great  and  loved  by  all. 

And  at  last,  when  all  fulfilled 

Are  His  purposes  of  love 
Here  on  earth,  He  yet  doth  build 

Fairer  homes  in  heaven  above. 
Where  enwrapt  in  His  embrace 
They  shall  know  His  depths  of  grace. 


2i8        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Full  of  grace  to  charm  the  heart, 

Full  of  solace  hour  by  hour, 
Full  of  wonder,  full  of  art, 

Full  of  wisdom,  full  of  power. 
Full  of  wonders,  ye  shall  prove. 
Is  the  bond  of  wedded  love. 

Among  the  admirers  of  Paul  Gerhardt  we  have 
named  the  wife  of  the  Great  Elector,  Louisa  Henrietta 
of  Brandenburg.  This  princess,  who  was  herself  a 
hymn-writer  of  no  mean  ability,  shines  out  upon  us 
from  among  the  confused  and-  tragic  scenes  of  that 
seventeenth  century,  as  almost  the  ideal  of  a  noble 
Christian  lady.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  and  grand-daughter  on  her  mother's  side  of 
the  Admiral  Coligny  who  fell  in  the  Massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew's  Day.  Her  mother,  herself  a  woman  of 
unusual  intelligence  and  piety,  educated  her  with  the 
greatest  care  ;  at  her  wish  the  princess  was  instructed 
in  graver  studies  than  were  common  with  the  women 
of  those  days,  and  also  in  practical  household  manage- 
ment, and  all  kinds  of  feminine  handicrafts.  She 
grew  up  tall,  fair-haired,  and  graceful,  and  at  nineteen 
was  married,  at  the  Hague,  to  the  Elector  of  Branden- 
burg. As  her  father  was  then  very  ill  with  a  pro- 
tracted and  fatal  malady,  she  did  not  however  at 
once  leave  home,  but  nursed  her  father  till  his  death, 
and  then  awaited  the  birth  of  her  first  child.  In 
1649  she  set  out  on  her  way  to  Berlin  in  late  autumn 
weather,  and  through  a  country  devastated  by  war 
and  famine.  Under  the  hardships  of  the  journey  her 
own  health  suffered,  and  her  little  son  sickened  ;  and 
when  she  arrived  in  Berlin,  it  was  not  to  bring  her 
husband  and  people  an  heir  to  the  throne,  but  with 


ELECTRRSS  LOUISA.  219 

empty  arms  and  an  aching  heart,  for  the  poor  infant 
had  died  by  the  way.  But  she  found  consolation 
in  the  devoted  attachment  of  her  husband ;  he 
could  not  bear  to  be  separated  from  her,  and  it 
soon  became  her  custom  to  accompany  him  in  all  the 
numerous  journeys  he  was  constantly  making,  even 
in  more  than  one  winter  campaign  against  the  Swedes 
and  Poles.  He  consulted  her  on  all  affairs  of  state, 
and  she  entered  warmly  into  his  plans  for  restoring 
prosperity  to  the  land  which  had  suffered  so  much 
from  war.  She  sent  to  Holland  for  skilful  agricul- 
turists, and  established  model  farms  in  various  parts 
of  Prussia ;  she  introduced  the  culture  of  the  potato, 
which  was  before  unknown  there ;  and  she  founded 
primary  schools  all  over  the  country,  where  they  had 
been  almost  entirely  swept  away.  So  deep  was  the 
gratitude  she  won  from  the  common  people  that  the 
name  "Louisa"  became  the  favourite  name  for  girls, 
and  as  lately  as  thirty  or  forty  years  ago  her  portrait 
was  still  to  be  found  on  cottage  walls.  When  at  home 
her  favourite  residence  was  her  country  house  Oranien- 
burg,  near  Berlin.  She  had  neither  inclination  nor 
time  for  gaiety,  beyond  what  her  position  required ; 
for,  besides  all  these  serious  occupations,  she  took 
part  in  works  of  charity,  and  was  strict  in  the  perfor- 
mance of  her  religious  duties.  She  was  always  present 
at  divine  service,  where  she  appeared  in  a  very  simple 
dress,  and  made  it  a  rule  never  to  look  in  her  mirror 
before  going  to  church.  In  religion  she  belonged  to  the 
Reformed  Church,  but  she  was  in  the  habit  of  friendly 
intercourse  with  Lutherans,  and  earnestly  desired  to  see 
peace  between  the  two  communions.  But  one  source 
of  sorrow  weighed  secretly  on  the  princess's  heart : 


220        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


she  had  no  second  child ;  and  if  the  Elector  had 
no  son,  his  race  became  extinct,  and  at  his  death  a 
war  of  succession  might  be  apprehended.  Long  she 
brooded  over  this  grief;  at  last  she  resolved  to  make 
the  greatest  sacrifice  in  her  power,  and  to  demand  a 
divorce  for  the  sake  of  the  country.  She  acknow- 
ledged afterwards  that  she  found  it  very  hard  to  come 
to  this  resolution,  and  it  cost  her  many  hours  of  tears 
and  prayers,  but  it  was  done  ;  she  appeared  before 
the  Elector,  and  formally  announced  to  him  her  in- 
tention of  applying  for  a  divorce,  that  might  enable 
him  for  the  sake  of  his  people  to  marry  again.  But 
the  Elector  refused  to  listen  to  her  proposal ;  had 
she  forgotten  the  command  that  man  should  not 
sever  what  God  had  joined  .''  If  it  pleased  God  to 
punish  them  and  their  country  by  childlessness,  let 
them  submit  ;  but  never  would  he  consent  to  break 
an  oath  he  had  sworn  in  God's  sight.  No  doubt  it 
was  with  a  lightened  heart  that  she  went  back  to 
Oranienburg,  where  a  few  months  of  tranquillity  so 
far  restored  her  health,  that  at  length  her  wishes  were 
fulfilled,  and  she  bore  another  son.  He  was  born  on 
a  Tuesday ;  and  in  memory  of  this  great  blessing  she 
kept  every  Tuesday  with  its  own  religious  obser- 
vances for  the  rest  of  her  life,  and  also  founded  an 
orphan-house  at  Oranienburg  for  fatherless  children. 
Two  more  sons  followed  in  due  time,  one  of  whom 
became  afterwards  the  first  king  of  Prussia.  The  last 
of  the  three  was  born  in  1666  at  Cleves,  and  then  her 
health  failed,  worn  out  by  the  great  exertions  which  her 
life  had  demanded,  and  she  died,  after  many  months 
of  slow  decline,  in  1667,  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine. 
One  of  her  last  acts  is  said  to  have  been  to  induce 


ELECTRESS  LOUISA.  22 1 

the  Elector  to  give  up  his  demand  on  the  Lutheran 
clergy,  and  to  grant  them  freedom  from  the  obnoxious 
subscription,  an  act^  which  put  an  end  to  the  discon- 
tent and  resistance  to  the  government  then  so  widely 
spread.  Among  her  favourite  recreations,  especially 
in  times  of  toil  and  anxiety,  was  the  reading  and 
singing  of  hymns,  and  at  her  request  Otto  von 
Schwerin,  the  great  friend  of  herself  and  her  husband, 
made  a  collection  of  them  which  was  afterwards  pub- 
lished and  widely  circulated.  To  this  he  contributed 
one  or  two,  and  the  Electress  four  hymns,  two  of 
which  have  become  classical  in  Germany ;  one  is 
the  celebrated  Easter  hymn, 

"Jesus,  my  Redeemer  lives,"  ^ 

which,  with  its  beautiful  chorale,  is  now  in  various 
versions  becoming  familiar  to  us  in  England.  It  is 
probable  that  the  Electress  composed  both  the  words 
and  the  melody  of  this  hymn,  but  that  Schwerin 
polished  the  former  and  Criiger  harmonized  the  latter 
for  her.  To  this  day  it  ranks  among  the  most  popular 
of  German  hymns.  We  give  another  as  being  less 
known,  which  contains  an  affecting  expression  of  the 
consciousness  of  sin  and  ingratitude  in  a  life,  in  which 
those  around  her  could  scarce  discern  a  failing. 

PENITENCE. 
I  will  return  unto  the  Lord 

From  all  my  evil  ways  ; 
O  God,  do  Thou  Thy  help  afford, 

Teach  me  to  seek  Thy  face, 

1  It  was  not  formally  published  till  early  in  1668,  when  Gerhardt 
had  already  accepted  the  archdeaconry  of  Liibben. 
"Jesus  meine  Zuversicht." 


222        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Thy  Holy  Spirit's  strength  impart 
Who  can  anew  create  my  heart, 
Deny  me  not  this  grace. 

For  man  sees  not  his  wretched  plight 
Till  Thy  touch  make  him  see  ; 

Without  Thy  Spirit's  inner  light 
All  blind  and  dead  is  he, 

Biassed  in  sense  and  will  and  deed ; 

O  Father,  let  me  now  be  freed- 
From  this  great  misery  ! 

Lord,  knock  in  mercy  at  my  door, 

And  all  that  I  have  done 
Against  Thee,  do  Thou  set  before 

This  heart,  till  it  is  won 
To  mourn  that  it  was  e'er  so  weak, 
And  in  my  grief  adown  this  cheek 

Hot  tears  of  sorrow  run. 

For  of  thy  gifts,  ah  !  what  a  wealth 
Hast  Thou  on  me  bestowed  ; 

To  Thee  I  owe  my  life  and  health, 
My  cup  hath  overflowed ; 

Than  food  and  raiment  Thou  dost  grant 

So  much  besides,  that  no  real  want 
Hath  darkened  my  abode. 

And  Thou  in  Christ  hast  rescued  me 
From  out  of  death's  dark  flood, 

Thou  dost  not  leave  my  soul  to  be 
In  lack  of  any  good ; 

And  lest  I  dwell  in  careless  ease. 

Forgetting  Him  who  gave  me  these, 
Betimes  I  feel  Thy  rod. 


ELECTRESS  LOUISA.  323 

Have  I  then  striven  as  sure  I  ought, 

To  love  Thee  and  obey  ? 
Ah  no  !  this  heart  and  conscience  fraught 

AVith  grief,  full  truly  say 
I  have  forgot  Thee,  and  they  mourn 
With  deep  remorse  and  anguish  torn 

For  Sin's  long  easy  sway. 

Till  now  in  false  security 

My  conscience  slept,  and  said, 
"  There  yet  is  time  enough  for  thee  ; 

God  is  not  stem,"  it  said  ; 
"  So  strict  account  He  doth  not  keep. 
The  Shepherd's  patience  with  His  sheep 

Not  soon  is  spent  and  fled." 

But  suddenly  that  sleep  was  broke. 

And  now  my  heart  will  break  ; 
Thy  voice  in  mighty  thunders  spoke. 

Thy  lightnings  made  me  quake ; 
I  see  the  realms  of  death  and  hell 
Advance  in  power  I  cannot  quell 

My  soul  their  prey  to  make. 

Ah  Jesu  Christ !  our  mighty  Rock, 

I  flee  alone  to  Thee, 
Within  Thy  clefts  from  every  shock 

O  hide  and  shelter  me  ! 
O  Lamb  of  God,  didst  Thou  not  bear 
All  sins  of  men  and  e'en  my  share 

Upon  the  fatal  tree  ? 

Then  with  Thy  Father  intercede, 

That  He  no  more  should  think 
Of  all  my  sins,  each  evil  deed 

That  makes  me  quail  and  shrink. 


224        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Ah  let  the  burden  of  my  guilt, 
For  which  such  precious  blood  was  spilt, 
Beneath  the  ocean  sink  ! 

And  henceforth  will  I  day  by  day, 

With  strenuous  ceaseless  care, 
From  all  false  pleasures  turn  away, 

And  rather  all  things  bear 
Than  willingly  to  sin  give  place : 
Dear  Lord,  give  Thou  Thy  strength  and  grace 

To  do  as  I  declare  ! 

The  Court  of  Prussia  was  not  the  only  one  at  which 
religious  poetry  was  cultivated.  At  that  of  Weimar, 
the  duke  who  had  been  a  famous  general  in  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  was  a  good  hymn-writer,  and  so 
was  his  librarian,  George  Neumarck,  the  author  of  one 
of  the  best  known  and  finest  of  the  German  hymns, 
"Leave  God  to  order  all  thy  ways."^  At  that  of  Bruns- 
wick not  only  the  Duke,  Anton  Ulrich,  but  nearly  all 
the  members  of  his  family  cultivated  both  poetry  and 
music  with  considerable  success,  Anton  Ulrich  him- 
self was  a  very  learned  man,  pupil  of  two  of  the  most 
distinguished  scholars  of  the  day,  and  a  good  and  pious 
sovereign.  The  stain  on  his  career  is  that  in  extreme 
old  age  he  embraced  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
avowedly  from  political  motives,  and  then  again  re- 
verted to  Lutheranism  on  his  death-bed  ;  but  except 
for  this  inconsistency  he  deserved  and  enjoyed  the 
esteem  of  his  people.  His  hymns  are  extremely 
good,  graceful  in  form,  and  deep  in  feeling,  and  have 
become  very  well  known.  The  following  little  song 
is  among  those  less  commonly  to  be  met  with  : — 

1  "  Wer  nur  den  lieben  Gott  lasst  walten." 


S.U   VI, 


ANTON  ULRICH.  225 


PATIENCE  AND  HUMILITY,  \ 

.  ■  \ 
Patience  and  Humility  !  - 

Where  these  two  companions  be, 

On  their  lover  they  bestow  '- 

Quiet  calm  through  weal  and  woe. 

He  unmoved  meets  Fortune's  frown,  ^ 

Sees  her  wheel  go  up  and  down,  - 

Ready  stands  to  face  alike  \ 

Or  her  smiles  or  her  dislike.  \ 

If  she  frown  like  blackest  night,  \ 

Threatening  to  o'erwhelm  him  quite,                    .  '\ 

Patience  still  will  stand  his  friend,  \ 

Bidding  him  await  the  end.  v 

If  she  smile  and  all  restore,  ; 
And  he  grow  elate  once  more, 

Safe  through  snares  of  wealth  and  pride  '^ 

Soft  Humility  can  glide.  > 

If  his  plans  and  wishes  fail,  .J 

Nor  his  best-laid  schemes  avail,  j 

Patience  helps  him  still  to  hope,  "\ 
And  with  disappointment  cope. 

If  his  efforts  all  succeed,  ^l 

And  he  earn  the  hero's  meed,  1 
Still  Humility  will  say, 

"  This  shall  also  pass  away."  \ 

If  unkind  the  world  shall  prove,  .v 

And  no  heart  give  love  for  love,  ;' 

Patience  comforts,  "Sad  thy  lot,  *. 
But  thou  hast  deserved  it  not." 

Q 


226        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

If  he  sit  in  highest  state, 
Friends  around  him,  rich  and  great, 
From  all  cares  and  burdens  free ; 
Safe  is  still  Humility. 

Patience  is  for  days  of  gloom, 
Pining  grief  to  overcome ; 
But  Humility  for  joy, 
Lest  it  cheat  us  and  destroy. 

So  until  my  journey  ends 
These  I  choose  for  daily  friends, 
For  Humility  is  blest, 
And  sweet  Patience  giveth  rest. 

Only  two  more  names  can  be  mentioned  from  this 
circle  of  writers.  The  first  is  that  of  Albinus,  a 
clergyman  of  Naumberg,  and  member  of  the  Order  of 
the  Palm,  who  wrote  several  very  sweet  and  popular 
hymns  on  the  joys  of  heaven,  something  in  the  style 
of  Simon  Dach.  The  other  is  that  of  Johann  Frank 
(1618 — 1677),  who  ranks  only  second  to  Gerhardt  as  a 
hymn-writer,  and  with  him  marks  the  transition  from 
the  earher  to  the  later  school  of  German  religious 
poetry.  In  the  former,  the  congregational  hymn — "  the 
church-song  "  as  Germans  call  it — had  furnished  the 
type  for  all  compositions  of  this  class,  even  for  those, 
like  the  '"Ode"  of  Gryphius  given  above,  which  were 
not  meant  for  church  use.  Hence  it  was  required  that 
the  poem  should  be  capable  of  being  set  to  music,  and 
should  embody  such  phases  of  feeling  and  experience 
as  might  fairly  be  attributed  to  any  large  gathering 
of  sincere  Christians.  These  conditions  necessitated 
a  certain  compression  and  finish  in  form,  and  a  cer- 


JOHANN  FRANK.  227 

tain  breadth  and  vigour  in  thought;  but  they  also 
excluded  much  both  in  rhythm  and  sentiment  which 
might  legitimately  claim  a  place  in  Christian  poetry. 
From  this  time  onwards  a  more  personal  and  indi- 
vidual tone  is  to  be  remarked  even  in  congregational 
hymns,  and  with  it  a  tendency  to  reproduce  special 
forms  of  Christian  experience,  often  of  a  mystical 
character.  Gerhardt  stands  precisely  on  the  culmi- 
nating point  between  the  two  schools.  His  whole 
tone  and  style  of  thought  belong  to  the  elder  school, 
but  the  distinct  individuality  and  expression  of  per- 
sonal sentiment  which  are  impressed  on  his  poems 
already  point  to  the  newer.  Frank  stands  near  him, 
but  on  the  side  of  the  newer  school ;  his  leading 
thought  is  the  union  of  the  soul  with  its  Redeemer  ; 
"  that  Christ  be  in  you  the  hope  of  glory  "  is  the  key- 
note of  his  hymns.  The  style  both  of  his  religious 
and  secular  poetry  is  curiously  unlike  what  w^e  should 
have  anticipated  from  the  little  we  know  of  his  life. 
He  was  the  son  of  an  advocate  in  the  little  town  of 
Guben  in  Saxony.  Having  lost  his  father  early,  he 
was  brought  up  by  relations,  who  sent  him  to  the 
university  of  Konigsberg  when  Simon  Dach  and  his 
friends  were  living  there ;  he  travelled  a  little,  and 
then  settled  down  as  an  advocate  in  Giiben,  and 
became  successively  councillor,  burgomaster  of  the 
town,  and  representative  of  the  province.  It  sounds 
like  the  career  of  a  diligent,  sensible,  quiet  German 
citizen,  but  he  was  also  one  of  the  principal  poets  of 
the  day,  and  a  very  voluminous  one.  His  secular 
poems,  like  those  of  his  contemporary  George  Neu- 
marck,  belong  to  the  pastoral  school,  and  are  long- 
winded  and  affected  to  an  extraordinary  degree.    His 

Q2 


228        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

religious  songs,  on  the  other  hand,  published  in  1674 
under  the  title  of  the  "  Spiritual  Zion,"  are  remarkably- 
fine  ;  condensed,  and  polished  in  style,  with  a  fervid 
and  impassioned  movement  of  thought.  The  follow- 
ing is  one  of  his  most  celebrated  hymns,  but  from  its 
peculiar  metre  it  loses  much  in  translation  : — 

TO  THE  SAVIOUR. 

Jesu,  priceless  treasure, 
Source  of  purest  pleasure, 
Truest  friend  to  me ! 
T^ong  my  heart  hath  panted, 
Till  it  well-nigh  fainted, 

Thirsting  after  Thee  ! 
Thine  I  am,  O  spotless  Lamb  ! 
I  will  suffer  nought  to  hide  Thee, 

Ask  for  nought  beside  Thee. 

In  Thine  arm  I  rest  me, 
Foes  who  would  molest  me 

Cannot  reach  me  here  ; 
Though  the  earth  be  shaking. 
Every  heart  be  quaking, 

Jesus  calms  my  fear ; 
Sin  and  hell  in  conflict  fell 
With  their  heaviest  storms  assail  me, 

Jesus  will  not  fail  me. 

Satan,  I  defy  thee  ; 
Death,  I  need  not  fly  thee  ; 

Fear,  I  bid  thee  cease  ! 
Rage,  O  world,  thy  noises 
Cannot  drown  our  voices 

Singing  still  of  peace ; 


JOHANN  FRANK.  229 

For  God's  power  guards  every  hour, 
Earth  and  all  the  depths  adore  Him, 
Silent  bow  before  Him. 

Wealth,  I  will  not  heed  thee, 
Wherefore  should  I  need  thee, 

Jesus  is  my  joy  ! 
Honours,  ye  may  glisten, 
But  I  will  not  listen. 

Ye  the  soul  destroy  ! 
Want  or  loss  or  shame  or  cross 
Ne'er  to  leave  my  Lord  shall  move  me, 

Since  He  deigns  to  love  me. 

Farewell,  thou  who  choosest 
Earth,  and  heaven  refusest. 

Thou  wilt  tempt  in  vain  ; 
Farewell,  sins,  nor  blind  me, 
Get  ye  far  behind  me, 

Come  not  forth  again ; 
Past  your  hour,  O  pomp  and  power ; 
Godless  life,  thy  bonds  I  sever, 

Farewell  now  for  ever  ! 

Hence  all  thoughts  of  sadness. 
For  the  Lord  of  gladness, 

Jesus,  enters  in ! 
Those  who  love  the  Father, 
Though  the  storms  may  gather,  ' 

Still  have  peace  within  ; 
Yea,  whate'er  I  here  must  bear 
Still  in  Thee  lies  purest  pleasure, 

Jesu,  priceless  treasure ! 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE     NEW     SCHOOL. 
A.D.    1635 — 1700,     . 

Though  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  marks 
an  epoch  in  the  literature  of  Germany,  different  ten- 
dencies of  thought  are  never  really  parted  by  so  sharp 
a  line  of  demarcation  :  the  new  school  first  grows  up 
by  the  side  of  the  old  one;  and  so  in  this  instance  too 
we  must  go  back  to  the  days  of  the  great  war  for  the 
men  who  first  introduce  the  new  style.  In  an  un- 
poetical  age  like  the  one  that  was  now  approaching — 
empty  of  the  great  interests  and  vivid  sentiment  of  a 
common  life  that  furnish  the  soil  on  which  true  poetry 
springs — the  art  is  apt  to  degenerate  into  an  artificial 
sort  of  composition  of  either  a  didactic  or  a  senti- 
mental kind,  which  here  and  there  rises  a  little  above 
the  dead  level  of  mere  verse-making,  where  some  real 
gift  of  song  has  been  bestowed.  But  it  also  often 
happens  that  the  originators  of  even  these  styles  are 
very  superior  to  their  successors.  Certainly  Friedrich 
von  Logau,  who  may  be  regarded  as  the  beginner 
of  the  epigrammatic  and  didactic  poetry,  which  con- 
tinued to  be  so  popular  in  Germany  for  the  next 
hundred  years,  has  far  more  thought  and  vigour  of 
expression  than  most  who  followed  in  his  footsteps. 


FRIEDRICH  VON  LOGAU.  231 

He  was  bom  in  1604,  of  one  of  the  most  ancient  and 
noble  families  in  Silesia ;  his  estates  lay  in  that  pro- 
vince ;  he  was  privy  councillor  to  the  Duke  of  Brieg  and 
Liegnitz ;  he  was  a  member  of  the  Fruit-bearing 
Society,  and  died  in  1655.  Few  as  these  facts  are, 
they  at  least  make  us  understand  how  closely  all  the 
tumults  of  the  war  must  have  touched  him,  and  how 
he  nevertheless  found  time  and  thought  for  literary 
work.  And  his  poems  give  the  same  picture, — of  a 
man  of  strong  and  original  genius,  honest  and  down- 
right, deeply  interested  in  the  questions  of  the  day ; 
loving  his  country,  hating  foreigners,  and  the  war 
which  benefited  none  but  the  foreign  mercenaries  ; 
longing  for  a  domestic  country-life,  and  mourning  over 
the  desolation  of  his  own  paternal  inheritance.  He  is 
distinguished  in  satire  and  epigram,  and  his  principal 
work  is  a  collection  of  more  than  three  thousand  epi- 
grams and  aphorisms  in  verse  which  were  published 
first  in  1639,  and  afterwards  in  1654  under  the  title 
of  "  Three  Thousand  German  Proverbs  and  Poems,  by 
Solomon  of  Golaw."  Some  of  these  are  rough  and  un- 
polished in  form,  but  most  have  force  and  clear  strong 
sense,  and  his  influence  on  the  writers  of  his  own  time 
was  marked.  In  the  next  century  Lessing  again  drew 
attention  to  his  works,  and  he  has  ever  since  ranked 
among  the  most  important  writers  of  this  period. 

Logau's  poems  arc  chiefly  secular,  but  he  also  com- 
posed a  number  of  religious  aphorisms,  which  were 
printed  in  a  separate  volume  in  1704,  and  all  his 
writings  are  imbued  with  a  spirit  of  unafi*ccted  manly 
piety.  It  is  to  him  we  owe  those  sayings  which 
Mr.  Longfellow  has  made  familiar  to  us,  especially 
that  profound  one: 


232         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


RETRIBUTION. 

Though  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly,  yet  they  grind  exceed- 
ing small; 

Though  with  patience  He  stands  waiting,  with  exactness 
grinds  He  all. 

SIN. 

Manlike  is  it  to  fall  into  sin ; 
Fiendlike  is  it  to  dwell  therein  ; 
Christlike  is  it  for  sin  to  grieve ; 
Godlike  is  it  all  sin  to  leave.  ^ 

THE  HIGHEST  GOOD. 

In  this  world  every  man  will  deem 
What  pleases  him,  is  good  supreme ; 
But  he  who  gains  by  his  good  hap 
These  four  things,  sits  in  Fortune's  lap : 
A  gracious  God,  a  loving  wife. 
Calm  death  to  end  a  healthful  life. 

TOLERANCE. 

What  force  is  there  on  earth  can  faith  compel  ? 
Force  can  produce  denial,  not  faith  as  well. 

DARKNESS. 

Whene'er  between  the  human  heart  and  God's  love  from  on 

high 
Earth's  shadow  falls, — our  day  grows  dark,  eclipse  o'erspreads 

our  sky ; 
The  sun  of  God's  dear  solace  gone,  whence  true  delight  we 

gain. 
Only  the  world  is  left  the  heart — that  meaneth  only  pain. 

*  These  two  versions  are  quoted  from  Mr.  Longfellow's  poems. 


FRIEDRICH  VON  LOG  A  U.  233 


EPITAPH  ON  HIS  WIFE. 

Reader,  dost  thou  seek  to  know 
What  it  is  that  lies  below  ? 
Ah  !  a  gift,  Mortality 
Left  too  short  a  time  with  me. 
'Twas  a  pearl  of  virtue  true, 
And  a  rose  of  freshest  hue. 
Gold  of  faultless  purity, 
Crimson  of  shy  modesty. 
Crystal  clear  of  self-control, 
Emerald  of  the  chastest  soul, 
Ruby  of  a  wedded  heart. 
Opal  of  sweet  household  art. 
Sun  among  all  women  bright. 
To  one  man  his  heart's  delight. 
To  her  home  a  fence  secure, 
In  distress  its  pillar  sure, 
Busy  hand  in  daily  toil, 
Cooling  breeze  in  life's  turmoil, 
Sugar  in  the  bitter  day. 
Medicine  charming  pain  away. 
Friendship  in  the  hour  of  need, 
Truth  till  death  in  very  deed. 

Gentle  reader,  ah  !  how  much, 
More  than  art  of  mine  can  touch, 
Have  I  here  resigned  to  fill 
This  deep  grave :  so  God  doth  will ! 
Stand  and  ponder  o'er  in  thought 
What  sore  mischief  Death  has  wrought ; 
Then  if  one  that  marks  thee  say, 
Why  dost  linger  by  the  way  ? 
Answer,  that  there  lieth  near 
Virtue's  self  encoffined  here  I 


234  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Another  celebrated  writer  of  this  period,  whose 
works  belong  to  the  newer  school,  is  Johann  Valentin 
Andrea.  He  was  born  in  1586,  of  a  family  already- 
eminent  for  learning ;  he  distinguished  himself  at  the 
universities,  and  then  for  some  years  travelled  all  over 
Europe  as  tutor  to  various  pupils  of  noble  families. 
Returning  to  Wurtemberg  he  came  under  the  influence 
of  the  pious  and  venerable  Arndt,  became  an  earnestly 
religious  man  and  took  orders.  For  many  years  he 
was  the  chief  clergyman  at  Calw,  where  during  the 
earlier  period  of  the  war,  when  Wurtemberg  was  as 
yet  untouched,  he  organized  a  system  of  relief  and 
succour  to  the  sufferers  elsewhere,  which  was  so 
energetically  carried  out,  that  within  five  years  1 1,000 
persons  had  received  from  it  essential  assistance. 
But  Calw's  own  turn  came  ere  long:  in  1634  it 
was  stormed  and  given  up  to  plunder,  and  Andrea, 
who  was  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  Imperialists 
for  the  part  he  had  taken,  fled  into  the  forests  with 
some  of  his  friends.  They  were  hunted  for  days 
with  bloodhounds,  but  finally,  after  undergoing  fearful 
hardships,  escaped  by  the  aid  of  friendly  country- 
people.  As  soon  as  the  way  was  open  he  returned  to 
his  charge,  where  he  was  received  with  tears  of  joy ; 
but  in  the  next  two  years  there  followed  the  usual 
list  of  disasters  which  marked  the  course  of  the  war, — 
famine,  pestilence,  and  the  passage  of  troops,  until 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  inhabitants  had  perished, 
and  the  small  remainder  owed  to  the  eloquent  exer- 
tions of  Andrea  the  scanty  support  which  reached 
them  from  other  cities.  When  the  storm  rolled  away 
from  that  region  of  Germany,  Andrea  consented  to 
leave  Calw  and  accept  the  post  of  court  preacher  at 


JOHANN  VALENTIN  ANDREA.  235 

Stuttgardt  Here  he  had  to  cope  with  difficulties  of 
another  and  less  congenial  type.  He  was  a  man  of 
fervid  and  strict  piety,  with  high  ideas  of  church 
discipline,  and  the  court  of  Wurtemberg  was  given  up 
to  luxury  and  amusement  as  if  the  country  were  not 
bleeding  at  every  pore.  He  did  contrive  to  make  his 
own  house  a  refuge  for  the  poor,  especially  those  of 
his  own  order,  to  found  a  theological  college,  and  to 
inspire  new  life  and  better  order  into  the  churches 
more  immediately  under  his  influence.  But  the  court 
disliked  him  and  he  had  many  annoyances  and  failures 
to  endure,  and  at  last  his  weakened  health  furnished 
a  good  excuse  for  getting  rid  of  him  by  an  honour- 
able promotion.  He  died  in  1654  as  prelate  of 
Adelberg,  His  greatest  influence  was  as  a  Church 
reformer  and  a  prose  writer ;  he  wrote  many  theo- 
logical, controversial,  and  satirical  works,  both  in 
Latin  and  German,  which  earned  for  him  an  im- 
portant place  in  the  prose  literature  of  his  day, 
and  admission  into  the  Fruit-bearing  Society.  But 
he  also  published  in  16 19  a  volume  of  sacred  poems 
called  "Spiritual  Pastime"  {Geistliclie  Kiirazvcil), 
which  have  the  merit  of  deep,  pregnant  thought  in 
trenchant  but  often  harsh  and'  abrupt  expression. 
We  give  one  called 

FORGOTTEN  LOVE. 

Generous  Love  !  why  art  thou  hidden  so  on  earth 
That  scarce  a  heart  now  knows  the  truth  of  thy  exalted  birth? 
In  God  Himself  there  lies  thy  spring, 

Whence  thou  in  grace  dost  flow. 
To  make  all  creatures,  everything, 
Work  man's  true  good  below. 


236        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Loveliest  Love  !  why  art  thou  now  so  all-concealed, 
We  cannot  taste  thy  sweetness,  nor  see  thy  power  revealed  ? 
Yet  thou  the  bitter  world  canst  fill 

With  honey  sweet  and  pure, 
The  sorest  pain  thy  touch  can  still, 
The  heaviest  sorrow  cure. 

Heart-uniting  Love  !  why  art  thou  shut  from  us  so  close, 
We  fail  to  find  thy  constancy,  we  cannot  bless  our  foes? 
Yet  thou  in  one  canst  all  men  bind 

Now  scattered  far  apart. 
In  thee  may  all  their  solace  find, 
And  peace  and  joy  of  heart. 

Constant,  true  Love  !  why  art  thou  lost  to  us,  alas  ! 
That  never  doth  thy  steadfastness  before  our  vision  pass  ? 
Thou  dost  all  covenants  uphold, 

Thy  promise  all  may  trust, 
For  Love  can  nevermore  grow  old. 
And  Truth  can  never  rust. 

Candid,  bright  Love  !  why  art  thou  now  so  covered  o'er  with 
lies,  [prize  ? 

That  we  thy  light  and  righteousness  can  neither   see   nor 
Yet  thou  dost  teach  us  what  is  true. 

And  dost  command  the  right ; 
In  honour  giving  earth  its  due. 

While  heavenward  guides  thy  light. 

Humble,  sweet  Love !  ah  why  so  far  from  thee  we  drift, 
No  more  we  seek  or  value  thy  fair  and  costly  gift  ? 
To  seek  our  neighbour's  welfare  most 

Thou  teachest,  as  Christ  says. 
Nor  sufiferest  us  of  aught  to  boast 
Since  all  is  Jesu's  grace. 

Glowing,  warm  Love  !  why  do  we  scorn  thee  and  disown. 
Till  o'er  the  land,  in  field  or  town,  thy  fervour  is  unknown  ? 


OLEARIUS.  237 

Thou  teachest  us  with  all  our  powers 

To  hold  the  Gospel  fast, 
That  so  Christ's  kingdom  may  be  ours 

In  spite  of  fiercest  blast. 

Comforting  Love  !  why  art  thou  chased  away  so  far, 
Thy  courage  cannot  strengthen  us,  who  dwell  in  strife  and  war? 
Thou  takest  from  the  cross  its  weight. 

And  from  the  cup  its  gall, 
So  Christian  men  can  face  their  fate, 
For  they  are  brethren  all. 

Holiest  Love  !  how  we  forget  thy  very  name, 
So  that  thy  heavenly  nature  on  earth  wins  only  blame  ! 
While  lip-religion  fills  the  land, 

Nay,  worldly  talk  is  heard 
Till  Christian  souls  in  peril  stand 
To  lose  the  living  Word. 

God-fearing  Love  !  why  do  thy  foes,  alas  !  prevail  ? 
For  many  boast  the  Christian  name,  yet  at  thy  service  quail. 
They  bear  nought,  shun  nought,  love  their  pelf, 

Fast  not  and  run  no  race. 
Nor  pray,  nor  rest,  nor  die  to  self, 
Yet  trust  they  shall  find  grace. 

Among  the  leaders  of  this  didactic  school  may 
be  mentioned  a  whole  family  of  the  name  of  Olea- 
rius,  who  throughout  this  cehtury  were  clergymen 
and  hymn-writers,  and  the  last  of  whom  pub- 
lished, in  1707,  one  of  the  earliest  works  on  German 
hymnology.  In  the  next  century  it  included  Hillcr 
and  Rambach,  two  of  the  chief  hymn-writers  of  that 
time,  and  a  more  famous  author  in  Gellert,  whose 
hynms  and  odes  mark  at  once  its  zenith  and  its  close. 

The  founders  of  the  sentimental  school  were  Ilars- 
dorffer  and  Sigismund  von  Birkcn,  both  belonging  to 


238         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Southern  Germany,  where  this  school  flourished  more 
than  in  the  north.  Harsdorffer  (born  in  1607)  was  a 
wealthy  magistrate  and  merchant  of  Nuremberg, 
belonging  to  one  of  the  oldest  families  of  its  ancient 
mercantile  aristocracy,  and  in  spite  of  wars  and  hard 
times  he  lived  an  easy,  prosperous  life.  His  prudence 
in  affairs  was  so  highly  esteemed  that  princes  and 
private  persons  alike  applied  to  him  for  advice,  while 
in  literature  he  was  an  active  member  of  the  Fruit- 
bearing  Society,  and  wrote  a  great  deal  of  poetry  both 
sacred  and  secular,  with  some  prose  works  ;  among 
the  latter  is  one  which  he  avers  would  enable  any 
man  who  followed  its  rules  to  master  the  whole  art  of 
poetry  in  six  hours.  In  1644  we  find  this  respected 
magistrate,  then  thirty-seven  years  of  age,  engaged  in 
a  poetical  contest,  like  those  of  the  old  troubadours, 
with  a  rival  poet  named  Klai,  in  which  the  prize 
was  to  be  a  garland  of  flowers.  The  judges  could  not 
decide  which  of  the  two  was  entitled  to  the  wreath, 
and  so  a  flower  from  it  was  given  to  each,  and  they 
agreed  in  memory  of  the  occasion  to  found  a  new 
order,  that  of  the  "  Flowers,"  and  send  the  remaining 
blossoms  to  those  friendly  poets  whom  they  invited  to 
join  them.  This  order  has  maintained  its  existence 
up  to  the  present  day,  and  celebrated  its  two  hun- 
dredth anniversary  in  1844.  Its  members  especially 
devoted  themselves  to  pastoral  poetry;  and  as  their 
usual  place  of  meeting  was  Pegnitz,  near  Nuremberg, 
they  were  christened  by  the  public  "  the  shepherds 
and  shepherdesses  of  Pegnitz."  Among  themselves 
each  was  designated  by  some  pastoral  name,  and  in 
their  religious  poetry  they  glorified  the  pastoral  life 
as  peculiarly  pleasing  to  God.    Were  not  all  the  patri- 


THE  PASTORAL  SCHOOL.  239 

archs  shepherds  ?  Did  not  our  Lord  use  the  same  title 
for  Himself  and  His  ministers  ?  Was  not  the  Song 
of  Solomon  a  pastoral  idyll  ?  And  thus,  as  this  style 
became  fashionable,  it  coloured  even  the  hymns  of  the 
day,  and  brought  about  a  change  in  the  whole"  tone  of 
its  religious  poetry.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  hymn 
of  Nicolai's,  quoted  above,  became  so  popular,  that  not 
only  were  hundreds  of  imitations  of  it  composed,  but 
in  a  secularised  form  it  was  widely  circulated  as  a 
popular  love-song.  Harsdorffer  died  in  1658,  and 
was  succeeded  as  head  of  the  order  by  Sigismund  von 
Birken,  a  more  famous  poet  than  himself,  and  at  one 
time  tutor  of  the  Duke  Anton  Ulrich.  It  was  under 
Von  Birken  that  a  work  was  published  in  1673,  which 
with  his  own  poems  forms  a  repertory  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  this  school.  It  consists  of  poetical 
versions  of  the  "  Meditations  "  of  a  celebrated  divine. 
Dr.  Muller  of  Rostock,  thrown  into  a  pastoral  form 
by  twenty-nine  of  these  Pegnitz  shepherds  and 
shepherdesses.  This  is  now  unreadable,  but  a  few  of 
Birken's  own  poems  have  found  their  way  into  recent 
collections,  and  so  have  some  by  his  friend  and  fol- 
lower, Erasmus  Finx  of  Nuremberg.  The  last  great 
representative  of  this  school  was  Gessner,^  who  lived 
in  the  middle  of  the  next  century  (1730 — 1787),  and 
whose  "  Death  of  Abel "  is  said  to  have  been  trans- 
lated into  more  languages  than  any  other  German 
work,  and  to  have  been  the  first  that  attracted  the 
attention  of  Europe  to  modern  German  literature. 
In  these  days,  however,  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
what  was  the  charm  of  those  high-flown  and  wordy 

1  Gessner,   and  some  others  of  this   school,   wrote  their  so-called 
poems  chiefly  in  prose. 


240         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

compositions,  of  which  the  "  Death  of  Abel "  is  by- 
far  the  best. 

But  the  earliest  poet  of  this  school  deserves  notice 
both  for  his  own  sake,  and  because  he  is  the  first 
Roman  Catholic  poet  of  any  note  since  the  Reforma- 
tion. Hitherto  the  intellectual  activity  of  Germany  had 
been  all  on  the  side  of  the  Reformed  doctrine ;  it  was 
so  still  to  a  great  degree,  but  the  order  of  the  Jesuits 
was  beginning  in  Southern  Germany  to  push  back  the 
advancing  tide  of  Lutheranism,  and  it  is  among  them 
that  we  meet  with  the  first  Roman  Catholic  writers 
who  made  a  mark  on  the  literature  of  their  time. 
These  were  Johann  Jacob  Balde  and  Friedrich  von 
Spec.  Balde  (1603-1668)  wrote  almost  exclusively  in 
Latin,  but  his  "  Carmiiia  Lyrica  "  are  said  to  possess 
remarkable  power  and  fire,  and  were  very  much  read 
and  imitated  in  his  own  day.  Friedrich  von  Spee, 
on  the  contrary,  wrote  in  German,  expressly  as  he 
says,  because  "it  is  not  only  in  the  Latin  tongue, 
but  in  the  German  no  less,  that  men  can  speak  and 
compose  good  poetry ;  if  this  have  been  wanting, 
'tis  the  fault  not  of  the  tongue,  but  of  the  persons 
who  use  it."  He  himself  belonged  to  a  noble 
family  of  Bavaria,  and  was  born  either  in  1591  or 
1595,  at  Kaiserswerth.  He  entered  the  order  of 
Jesuits  as  a  youth,  and  taught  moral  philosophy  at 
Cologne  until  1627,  when  he  was  transferred  to 
Wurzburg.  Here  it  was  part  of  his  duty  to  act 
as  confessor  to  the  poor  creatures  who  were  victims 
of  the  popular  mania  about  witchcraft,  and  he  is 
said  to  have  witnessed  the  last  hours  of  no  fewer 
than  two  hundred  of  these  unfortunate  persons. 
The  distress  of  mind  thus  caused   him   injured   his 


FRIEDRICH  VON  SPEE.  241 

health,  and  prematurely  whitened  his  hair,  but  he  did 
not  merely  pity,  he  acted  ;  to  him  belongs  the  great 
distinction  of  being  the  first  man  in  Europe  to  write 
openly  against  trials  for  witchcraft.  It  was  no  slight 
effort  of  courage  to  do  so  then,  but  he  had  the  reward 
of  making  at  once  at  least  one  convert,  the  Count  of 
Schonborn,  who  afterwards  as  Archbishop  of  Mayence 
was  the  first  prince  who  prohibited  such  trials  within 
his  dominions.  Spec's  work,  "De  proccssii  contra 
sagas  liber"  (Treatise  concerning  the  Trial  of  Witches), 
attracted  much  attention,  and  was  translated  into 
several  languages.  He  died  in  1635  at  Treves,  of 
a  fever  caught  while  attending  on  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers — an  honourable  end  to  so  honourable  a  life. 
His  principal  work,  "  The  Nightingale's  Rival " 
("  Trutz-Naclitigall"),  was  not  published  till  1649, 
and  in  1666  his  "  Golden  Book  of  Virtue."  Selections 
from  them,  somewhat  abridged  and  modified,  have 
appeared  from  time  to  time  ever  since ;  one,  edited 
in  1849  by  W.  Smets,  a  canon  of  Cologne  cathedral, 
has  now  a  wide  circulation. 

As  a  poet,  Spee  reminds  us  not  a  little  of  the 
Minne-singers  ;  he  has  all  their  love  of  nature,  their 
delight  in  spring-time  and  the  song  of  birds,  and  much 
of  their  fluency  and  mastery  over  rhyme  and  metre. 
There  is  great  beauty  and  grace  in  his  poems,  though 
many  of  them  are  too  much  spun  out,  and  overloaded 
with  quaint  conceits.  But  their  chief  defect  to  us 
is  that  the  pastoral  tone,  which  he  had  caught  from 
the  Italians,  seems  unbefitting  such  serious  themes  as 
those  to  which  it  is  here  often  applied.  In  one  poem, 
for  instance,  the  pioon  as  the  shepherd  of  the  stars 
gathers  her  flock  around  her,  and  bids  them  look  down 

S.L.VI.  R 


242  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

with  pity  and  wonder  on  the  sorrows  of  Daphnis, 
which  are  then  described  through  several  stanzas,  and 
prove  to  be  the  Agony  of  our  Lord  in  the  Garden. 
Or  again,  the  poet  wanders  into  the  woods :  near  a 
waterfall  he  utters  the  name  of  Jesus  ;  it  is  repeated  ; 
at  first  he  thinks  it  is  some  kindred  heart  responding 
to  his  own,  then  that  it  may  be  Jesus  Himself  con- 
descending thus  to  sport  with  him,  then  he  finds  it  is 
the  echo,  and  from  that  time  his  delight  is  to  play  at 
ball  with  the  echo,  tossing  the  name  of  the  Beloved  to 
and  fro,  till  all  the  woods  ring  with  the  sweet  sound. 
All  this  is  told  in  flowing  verses,  in  which  the  answers 
of  the  echo  are  introduced  with  great  skill ;  and  were 
the  subject  an  earthly  love,  it  would  be  a  charming 
little  poem.  The  following  is  one  of  his  best-known 
poems,  and  very  characteristic  of  his  style  : — 

A  LOVE-SONG  OF  THE   BRIDE   OF  CHRIST,  IN 
EARLY  SUMMERTIDE. 

The  gloomy  winter  now  is  o'er, 

The  storks  are  back  again, 
The  song  of  birds  is  heard  once  more, 
And  nests  are  built  amain. 

The  leaves  so  fair 

Steal  forth  to  air, 
The  flowers  give  promise  good ; 

The  brooks  awake. 

And  like  a  snake 
Wind  glittering  through  the  wood. 

The  streams  are  smiling  in  the  light, 

And  all  the  tiny  rills, 
The  little  daughters  silver-white 
Of  mighty  rocks  and  hills, 
In  rapid  throng 
N  ow  shoot  along 


FRIEDRICH  VON  SPEE.  243 

Like  arrows  on  their  way ; 

Nor  lack  they  voice 

That  can  rejoice 
As  with  the  stones  they  play. 

Diana,  huntress  pure  and  proud, 

And  wave  and  wood-nymphs  all, 
Now  laugh  and  sport,  a  merry  crowd, 
Where  greenwood  shadows  fall ; 
The  sun  shines  down 
To  gild  her  crown 
And  fills  with  darts  her  quiver ; 
Her  swiftest  steed 
Runs  loose  with  speed 
By  smoothest  road  and  river. 

The  summer  winds,  those  youths  so  fair 

On  whispering  wings  who  glide. 
Sport  with  the  nymphs  in  ambient  air 
As  on  light  clouds  they  ride. 
Each  tree  and  bough 
Its  utmost  now 
Of  wealth  has  all  displayed, 
That  bird  and  beast 
When  heat-oppressed 
May  hide  in  cooling  shade. 
The  birds'  sweet  minstrelsy  anew 

Its  "  tirra-lirra"  sings, 
And  many  a  branch  makes  music  too 
As  on  the  breeze  it  swings  ; 
Each  slender  spray 
Doth  bend  and  sway 
In  time  to  that  sweet  tune, 
And  many  a  lute 
And  warbling  flute 
Is  heard  beneath  the  moon. 
R  2 


244         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Where'er  one  gazes,  far  and  near, 

The  world  is  gay  and  bright, 
All  hearts  are  filled  with  gladsome  cheer, 
With  hope  and  quick  delight ; 

'Tis  I  alone 

Still  grieve  and  moan, 
No  end  my  sorrow  finds, 

Since  Thee  to  me, 

And  me  to  Thee, 
Thy  troth,  O  Jesu,  binds. 

O  Jesu,  it  is  only  I 

In  constant  grief  must  be, 
'Tis  I  alone  must  mourn  and  sigh. 
For  I  am  not  with  Thee  ! 
Ah  constant  grief 
Without  relief 
If  we  must  dwell  apart ! 

0  bitter  lot 

To  see  Thee  not. 
How  sore  it  wounds  my  heart ! 

Nought  in  the  world  can  give  me  joy 

But  only  Jesu's  love, 
All  sport  and  pleasure  but  annoy 

Till  He  the  veil  remove  : 
With  many  a  cry 

1  call  Him  nigh 

For  many  a  weary  hour. 

Yet  never  hear 

His  step  draw  near ; 
Ah  well  these  tears  may  shower  \ 

For  whkt  avails  the  lovely  spring. 
The  sunshine  and  the  light, 

The  silver  brooklet's  joyous  ring, 
The'  trees  so  fair  bedight, 


FRIEDRICH  VON  SPEE.  245 


The  balmy  wind 

With  breath  so  kind, 
The  soft  meandering  stream, 

The  birds'  clear  song, 

The  May-day  long, 
The  meadow's  emerald  gleam  ? 

What  all  the  joy,  the  sport,  the  play, 

The  happy  earth  can  show  ? 
Without  Him  grief  is  mine  alway. 
And  pain  and  pining  woe. 

So' sore  this  smart 

It  breaks  my  heart, 
If  Him  I  may  not  find ; 

For  Him  I  weep. 

And  reft  of  sleep 
Breathe  sighs  on  every  wind. 

Farewell,  O  spring-time,  rosy  dawns, 

Fields,  forests  decked  anew, 
Foliage  and  flowers  and  grassy  lawns 
All  wet  with  sweetest  dew, 

Streams  flowing  by, 

Clear  azure  sky, 
Darts  of  the  golden  sun ! 

Full  well  I  know 

That  grief  and  woe 
O'er  me  have  triumph  won. 

O  Jesu,  Jesu,  faithful  Lord, 

Why  grieve  this  heart  so  sore  ? 
Wilt  Thou  not  now  Thy  help  afford  ? 
Look  on  me,  I  implore, 
For  penitence 
And  pain  would  hence 


246         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

In  one  swift  moment  flee, 

If  but  these  eyes 

With  sweet  surprise 
Might  rest,  dear  Lord,  on  Thee  ! 

A  far  greater  poet  than  Spec,  and  one  who 
curiously  combines  the  characteristics  of  all  the 
various  tendencies  of  thought  just  mentioned,  is 
Angelus  Silesius.  Like  Spec  he  employs  pastoral 
titles  and  imagery  to  express  the  love  of  the  soul  for 
her  heavenly  Bridegroom,  and  he  delights  in  the  beauty 
of  the  natural  world  ;  like  Logau,  he  gives  us  a  book 
full  of  aphorisms  ;  and,  like  Johann  Frank,  he  is 
imbued  with  a  certain  profound  and  ardent  mysticism. 
His  real  name  was  Johann  Scheffler,  and  he  was  born 
at  Breslau  in  1624  of  Lutheran  parents,  and  educated 
at  the  university  of  his  native  place  for  the  profession 
of  medicine.  From  very  early  years  he  showed  a 
strong  predilection  for  metaphysical  and  theological 
researches,  and  was  greatly  attracted  by  the  writings 
of  Jacob  Bohme.  When  he  grew  up  he  visited  the 
universities  of  Holland,  then  famous  as  medical 
schools,  and  sought  the  acquaintance  of  men  who 
were  remarkable  for  piety,  especially  the  members  of 
a  certain  society  which  had  been  formed  in  Amster- 
dam by  the  disciples  of  Bohme.  On  his  return  to 
Silesia  he  was  made  private  physician  to  the  Duke  of 
Wurtemberg-Ols,  and  here  again  was  brought  into 
contact  with  the  same  kind  of  thought,  for  his  most 
intimate  friend  at  01s  was  Abraham  von  Franken- 
berg,  a  personal  disciple  of  Bohme,  who  had  written 
a  life  of  his  master.  Frankenberg  introduced  him  to 
the  works  of  many  other  mystics,  especially  those  of 
Tauler,  Ruysbroeck,  and  Schwenkfeld,  and  at  his  death 


ANGELUS  SILESIUS.  247 

bequeathed  to  Scheffler  a  large  library  of  such  works, 
including  many  important  manuscripts.  The  tone  of 
piety  thus  nourished  in  Scheffler  found  no  congenial 
air  in  his  native  church  at  01s.  To  him  the  all- 
important  thing  was  union  with  Christ,  the  life  of 
God  in  the  soul ;  to  the  Lutheran  clergy  of  01s  this 
sounded  unmeaning,  or  even  a  little  heretical ;  what 
they  cared  for  were  certain  definitions  of  dogma  and 
external  rules  of  conduct.  They  began  to  attack 
Scheffler;  he  replied,  and  they  succeeded  only  too  well 
in  driving  him  out  of  the  Lutheran  and  into  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  He  was  received  into  the  latter  in 
1653,  when  he  was  twenty-eight  years  old  ;  and  from 
this  time  devoted  himself  to  its  service  with  all  the 
zeal  of  a  proselyte.  He  was  now  made  private  phy- 
sician to  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  HI. ;  but  ere  long 
he  renounced  his  profession  entirely,  took  orders,  and 
returned  to  Breslau,  where  he  died  in  the  Jesuit  con- 
vent in  1677.  By  his  exertions  the  Roman  Catholics 
of  Breslau  obtained  permission  to  celebrate  the  festival 
of  Corpus  Christi  by  a  public  procession  through  the 
streets,  which  had  been  prohibited  since  the  Reforma- 
tion. The  first  time  that  the  practice  was  resumed 
was  in  1662,  on  which  occasion  Scheffler  (who  had 
now  adopted  the  name  of  Angelus)  bore  the  mon- 
strance containing  the  consecrated  Host. 

Throughout  these  years  Angelus  was  constantly 
engaged  in  fierce  controversy  with  the  church  he  had 
left,  especially  with  his  old  enemy  Herr  Frcitag,  the 
court  preacher  at  01s ;  but  it  is  not  by  his  polemical 
writings  that  he  is  remembered.  They  do  not  display 
any  extraordinary  ability,  and  they  are  marked  by  a 
bitterness  and  vehemence  which  is  in  strange  contrast 


248         CHRISTIAJ^  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

with  the  tone  of  his  poems.  So  strong  is  this  contrast 
that,  coupled  with  the  absence  of  any  pecuharly 
Romanist  doctrine  (except  in  nine  hymns  addressed 
to  the  Virgin  and  the  saints,  which  are  appended  to 
one  of  the  later  editions),  it  has  led  to  the  assumption 
that  his  hymns  were  written  before  his  conversion  ; 
at  any  rate  they  were  quickly  adopted  into  the 
hymn-books  of  the  Evangelical  Church,  and  are 
always  counted  among  the  precious  treasures  of  its 
devotional  poetry.  The  principal  work  in  which  they 
appeared  was  published  first  in  1657,  and  afterwards 
went  through  many  editions.  Its  title  and  preface 
show  the  influence  of  the  taste  of  the  times ;  it  is 
called,  "  Sacred  Joys  of  the  Soul,  or  the  Enamoured 
Psyche,"  and  was  followed  by  another  collection 
entitled  "  The  Mourning  Psyche."  ^  In  the  preface 
the  "Enamoured  Psyche"  is  admonished  to  forsake 
all  earthly  affections  and  love  the  Redeemer  alone  ; 
for  in  Christ  is  the  kindest  grace,  the  most  graceful 
loveliness,  the  loveliest  attractiveness,  the  most 
attractive  beauty ;  He  is  the  charming  Daphnis, 
the  careful  Corydon,  the  faithful  Damon,  the  crown 
of  all  virtuous  shepherds  and  shepherdesses  ;  with 
Him  are  the  beneficent  Galathea  (kindness),  the 
noble  Sophia  (wisdom),  the  fair  Callisto  (beauty),  &c. 
Some  of  the  hymns  of  Angelus  bear  traces  of  the  same 
style,  and  have  a  strong  likeness  to  the  one  of  Spec's 
already  quoted.  But  a  large  proportion  of  them 
are  in  quite  a  different  tone,  earnest,  grave  and 
noble,  with  a  peculiar  intensity  both  of  feeling  and 
expression.      Such  are  his  well-known  hymns  :  "  O 

■  1  "Heilige  Seelenlust  oder  die  verliebte  Psyche,"  and  "Die  betriibte 
Psyche." 


ANGELUS  SILESIUS.  249 

Love,  who  formedst  me  to  wear;"  "Thee  will  I  love, 
my  Strength,  my  Tower ;"  "  O  holiest  Love,  whom 
most  I  love,"  and  many  others,  which  breathe  a 
profound  love  to  God  in  Christ,  as  the  Source  and 
Manifestation  of  an  inexpressible  Beauty  and  Love, 
with  an  ardent  longing  for  entire  self-surrender  to 
Him.  The  two  following  little  poems  are  chosen 
from  those  less  commonly  quoted. 

THE  HIGHEST  SEEKS  THE  LOWEST. 

O  Good  beyond  compare  ! 

Who  would  not  worship  Thee  ? 
What  heart  that  would  not  long  to  bear 

Some  grief  or  smart  for  Thee  ? 
Who  would  not  that  his  soul  and  mind 
Were  wholly  unto  Thee  inclined  ? 

Thou  art  that  Radiance  keen, 

For  angel-eyes  too  pure, 
Which  mortal  man  hath  never  seen ; 

Yet  in  this  land  obscure, 
More  common  than  the  light  of  day 
Thou  shinest  round  our  path  alway. 

Thou  art  the  Majesty 

Whom  nature  bows  before, 
From  whom  not  hell  itself  can  flee, 

^Vhom  earth  and  heaven  adore  ; 
And  yet  Thou  bendest  down  to  show 
How  Thou  canst  care  for  one  so  low  ! 

Reason's  deep  primal  Source, 

Pure  Wisdom  art  Thou  still. 
Whose  sway  with  mild  resistless  force 

Works  everywhere  its  will ; 
And  yet  so  great  Thy  grace  to  me 
That  Thou  wouldst  have  me  reign  with  Thee. 


2SO         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Thou  art  the  Good  Supreme, 
No  good  canst  Thou  receive, 

The  Joy  whence  only  joy  can  stream, 
To  Thee  we  nought  can  give ; 

And  yet  Thou  askest  for  my  heart, 

That  in  Thy  joy  it  may  have  part. 

All  Beauty  is  Thine  own. 

Nought  fairer  canst  Thou  find, 

'Tis  Thy  own  loveliness  alone 
Can  please  Thy  Perfect  Mind ; 

And  yet  Thy  love  hath  chosen  me 

The  shadow,  to  be  sought  by  Thee. 

Thy  Throne  is  fixed  on  high, 
The  depths  before  it  quake, 

Vainly  would  earth's  poor  kingdoms  try 
Th'  eternal  rule  to  shake ; 

And  yet  a  sinning  child  to  save 

Thou  stoopest  to  the  cross  and  grave. 

O  Good  beyond  compare  ! 

Who  would  not  worship  Thee  ? 
What  heart  so  cold  it  would  not  bear 

Some  pain  and  smart  for  Thee  ? 
Oh  would  that  all  ray  soul  and  mind 
Longed  but  for  this,  my  God  to  find  ! 


A  SONG  AT  DAY-BREAK. 

Morning  Star  in  darksome  night. 
Who  the  sad  earth  makest  bright, 

I  am  Thine ! 

In  me  shine. 
Fill  me  with  Thy  light  divine  ! 


ANGELUS  SILESIUS.  251 

Lo,  Thy  heaven  is  in  me  here, 
Longs  to  see  its  Star  appear ; 

Break  of  Day, 

No  more  delay. 
Come  and  chase  these  mists  away ! 

For  Thy  brightness,  O  my  Star, 
Earth's  poor  sun  surpasseth  far ; 

From  Thy  sight, 

Lovely  Light, 
Other  suns  must  hide  in  night 

All  things  stand  revealed  by  Thee, 
Past  and  Present  and  To-Be, 

And  Thy  smile 

Can  erewhile 
Night  itself  of  gloom  beguile. 

Where  Thy  joyous  splendours  dart 
Faith  soon  follows  in  the  heart, 

Star  most  clear. 

Far  and  near 
Thou  as  Lord  art  worshipped  here  ! 

Come  then.  Golden  Light  of  souls, 
Ere  fresh  darkness  o'er  me  rolls. 

Be  Thou  mine, 

In  me  shine, 
Fill  me  with  Thy  Light  divine  ! 

His  other  most  important  work  was  a  collection  of 
spiritual  aphorisms,  after  the  manner  of  Logau,  pub- 
lished in  1674  under  the  title  of  "The  Chcrubinical 
Wanderer  "  ( "  Dcr  cJierubinische  Wandcrsmann  " ). 
After  having  fallen  into  oblivion,  this  work  was  brought 
forward  and  re-edited  by  Friedrich  von  Schlegcl, 
and  has  since  then  been  several  times  republished. 


252         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

It  consists  of  a  series  of  short  sayings,  generally 
comprised  in  a  single  couplet,  at  most  in  two  or 
three,  on  the  deepest  relations  of  the  human  soul  to 
God.  Many  of  these  sayings  are  pearls  of  wisdom, 
lustrous  with  a  wealth  of  meaning  which  grows  upon 
the  reader  the  more  he  ponders  them;  but  it  is  no  less 
true  that  others  pass  the  bounds  of  deep  but  sober 
thought  into  a  mystical  pantheism,  of  which  the  ex- 
pression is  often  extremely  and  even  wilfully  jarring. 
Angelus  defends  himself  against  the  charge  of  pan- 
theism by  an  appeal  to  the  writings  of  other  mystics, 
especially  Tauler ;  but  Tauler,  if  at  times  he  seems  to 
merge  the  personality  of  the  human  soul  in  the  abyss 
of  the  Divine  Nature,  is  practically  guarded  by  his 
clear,  unflinching  recognition  of  duty,  and  at  least  he 
never  loses  the  Divine  in  the  human.  It  is  this  last 
tendency  which  strikes  at  times  an  insoluble  discord 
in  these  aphorisms.  We  can  only  give  a  very  few  of 
them : — 

"  Th'  Unspeakable,  that  men  use  God  to  call, 
Utters  and  shows  itself  in  the  One  Word  to  all. 


God  is  all  virtue's  aim,  its  impulse  and  its  prize, 
In  Him  its  sole  reward,  its  only  '  wherefore  '  lies. 


The  nobler  aught,  the  commoner  'twill  be, 
God  and  His  sunshine  to  the  world  are  free. 


My  God,  how  oft  do  I  Thy  gifts  implore, 

Yet  know  I  crave  Thyself,  oh,  how  much  more  ! 

Give  what  Thou  wilt,  eternal  life  or  aught, 

If  Thou  withhold  Thyself,  Thou  giv'st  me  nought. 

All  goodness  flows  from  God,  therefore  'tis  His  alone ; 
-Evil  springs  up  in  thee,  that  may'st  thou  call  thy  own. 


ANGELUS  SILESIUS.  253 

Is  aught  of  good  in  thee  ?     Give  God  the  praise  of  all 
To  claim  it  for  thine  own,  is  ever  man's  true  Fall. 


The  noblest  prayer  is,  when  one  evermore 
Grows  inly  Ulcer  that  he  kneels  before. 


Faith  by  itself  is  dead,  it  cannot  live  and  move 
Till  into  it  is  breathed  the  living  soul  of  Love. 


The  rose  demands  no  reasons,  she  blooms  and  scents  the  air, 
Nor  asks  if  any  see  her,  nor  knows  that  she  is  fair. 


How   fairly   shines   the   snow,   whene'er  the   sun's   bright 

beams 
Illume  and  colour  it  with  heavenly  gleams  ; 
So  shines  thy  soul,  white,  dazzling  as  the  snow, 
WTien  o'er  it  plays  the  Day-spring's  radiant  glow." 

Angelus  was  the  founder  of  what  is  termed  the 
second  Silesian  school  of  poetry,  as  that  founded  by 
Opitz  is  called  the  first.  The  secular  productions  of 
this  school  are  singularly  trivial  in  thought,  and  trite 
and  bombastic  in  expression  ;  but  its  religious  poems, 
though  not  free  from  grave  defects,  never  fell  quite 
so  low,  and  some  among  them  were  really  good. 
These  had  a  strong  influence  on  the  pietistic  hymn- 
writers  of  the  next  period  ;  and  where  their  ardent 
mysticism  was  tempered  with  a  scriptural  and 
practical  tone  of  piety,  as  in  Tersteegcn,  Arnold, 
Schmolke,  &c.,  the  results  are  often  very  beautiful. 
Among  the  best  of  the  school  were  Knorr  von 
Rosenroth,  author  of  the  lovely  little  hymn,  "Day- 
spring  of  Eternity,"  and  some  others — a  friend  of 
Henry  More  and  Lightfoot,  and  a  student  of  alchemy 
and  the  Talmud,  who  knew  almost  the  entire  Bible 


254  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

by  heart ;  Christian  Scriver,  a  clergyman  at  Magde- 
burg ;  Homburg,  a  lawyer  of  Naumburg ;  and  two 
countesses  of  Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,  who  wrote 
very  sweet  and  graceful  verses. 

Although  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  had  pro- 
duced only  two  or  three  original  poets,  it  had  not 
been  unaffected  by  the  great  spread  of  vernacular 
hymns  since  the  Reformation.  Their  use  was  still 
prohibited  in  church  at  the  ordinary  services,  but  they 
were  commonly  employed  at  certain  festivals,  and 
collections  of  them  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
people.  These  consisted  partly  of  translations  from 
the  Latin,  partly  of  modified  versions  of  the  Lutheran 
hymns,  partly  of  the  old  popular  religious  songs.  It  is 
indeed  to  the  activity  of  the  priests  during  the  seven- 
teenth century  that  we  owe  most  of  the  collections  of 
these  ancient  songs.  Only  a  few  were  actually  com- 
posed in  this  century,  and  the  eighteenth  was  utterly 
barren  of  any  good  ones.  Their  great  flowering  time 
was  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  and 
again  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century.  But 
of  those  found  in  collections  of  this  period,  though 
themselves  probably  of  earlier  date,  we  give  two  : — 

AGAINST  THE  LUST  OF  THE  WORLD. 

Jesu  be  ne'er  forgot, 
That  the  World  harm  us  not ! 
False  is  she,  proud  and  cold, 
False  are  her  gifts  and  gold. 

Jesu  be  ne'er  forgot, 
That  Honour  harm  us  not ! 
Brittle  as  glass  her  throne, 
Worthless  as  straws  her  crown. 


POPULAR  SONGS.  255 

Jesu  be  ne'er  forgot, 
That  her  Pomp  hurt  us  not ! 
Pomp  and  the  praise  of  men 
Vanish  in  mist  again. 

Jesu  be  ne'er  forgot, 
That  the  Flesh  hurt  us  not ! 
Dust  all  and  merest  show, 
What  doth  so  fairly  glow. 

O  Flesh,  O  fading  grass, 
Passing  as  bubbles  pass. 
Fresh  to-day  and  rosy  red. 
Sick  to-morrow,  pale  and  dead  ! 

WHY  MY  SOUL  IS  GLAD. 

"Why  is  it  that  life  is  no  longer  sad, 
And  my  soul  within  me  is  now  so  glad  ? 
Because  with  repentance  earnest  and  meet 
I  cast  me  at  Christ  my  Saviour's  feet. 

The  light  of  my  eyes  had  waxen  dim 
Because  my  heart  had  forsaken  Him, 
My  heart  was  aching  and  pined  away, 
Long  and  weary  seemed  night  and  day  : 

Then  to  make  me  love  Him  still  more  and  more 
He  forgave  the  sin  I  had  done  before, 
And  this  is  the  reason,  and  only  this. 
That  this  soul  of  mine  hath  found  her  bliss. 

Dear  soul,  then  keep  thee  now  pure  and  free, 
That  nought  of  error  be  found  in  thee, 
And  so  prepare  thee,  through  gladness  here, 
For  a  heaven  of  joy  without  a  tear. 


CHAPTER   XT. 


THE   PIETISTS. 


A.D.   1660 — 1750. 


A  HUNDRED  years  elapsed  between  the  close  of  the 
great  struggle  which  determined  the  boundaries  and 
relations  of  Romanism  and  Protestantism  in  Germany, 
and  the  opening  of  that  Seven  Years'  War  in  which 
Prussia  first  asserted  her  rivalry  with  Austria  for  the 
leadership  of  their  common  race.  It  was  a  dreary 
period  in  German  story.  Politically  the  empire  had 
fallen  asunder  into  a  number  of  separate  despotic 
little  states  ;  and  the  sentiment  of  national  unity  had 
become  so  nearly  extinct,  that  the  loss  of  the  fertile 
and  beautiful  Alsace  to  France  seems  to  have  been 
viewed  with  wonderful  indifference,  and  the  achieve- 
ments of  a  general  like  Prince  Eugene  only  roused  a 
little  personal  admiration  for  himself.  Socially  the 
life  of  the  people  had  greatly  deteriorated.  The  rural 
population  was  terribly  diminished  in  numbers  and 
wealth  ;  their  means  of  communication  were  restricted 
by  the  destruction  of  their  horses  and  the  neglect  of 
the  roads  ;  their  schools  had  disappeared,  and  were 
but  very  slowly  replaced  ;  their  new  houses  and 
churches  were  bare  and  barn-like  compared  to  the 
old  ones ;  their  periodical  gatherings  for  certain  pur- 


OLD  LUTHERANISM.  257 

poses  of  local  self-government  or  for  festivities  had 
fallen  into  disuse.  It  was  a  vegetating  sort  of  exist- 
ence, and  the  writers  of  the  following  age  bear  testi- 
mony to  the  illiterateness  and  coarseness  of  manners 
which  prevailed  towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  even  among  the  gentry  of  the  country  dis- 
tricts. In  the  towns  things  were  but  little  better. 
The  commerce  of  Germany  had  received  a  serious 
check  ;  her  merchant  princes  had  sunk  to  the  level  of 
petty  traders,  and  adopted  the  manners  and  culture 
of  the  latter  class.  Her  old  free  cities  were  decaying ; 
only  a  few  of  the  newer  ones  were  growing,  and 
what  intellectual  life  then  existed,  centred  in  them, 
as  at  Hamburg  or  Berlin,  or  at  the  court  of  any  sove- 
reign who  specially  protected  letters,  or  still  more  at 
the  universities.  But  throughout  this  period  Germany 
contributes  only  one  really  great  name  to  literature 
— that  of  Leibnitz ;  while  in  France  it  was  the  age 
of  Louis  XIV.  and  XV.,  of  military  glory  and  social 
brilliancy,  of  Racine  and  Moliere,  of  Fenelon  and 
Bossuet,  of  Bayle  and  Voltaire.  And  so  German 
men  and  women  found  their  own  life  mean  and  tire- 
some, and  were  carried  away  by  admiration  of  their 
splendid  neighbour,  till  it  became  the  fashion  to 
imitate  whatever  was  French  in  manners,  dress,  or 
tone  of  thought,  and  the  very  language  was  wretchedly 
corrupted  by  the  intermixture  of  French  phrases. 
Frederick  the  Great  was  the  first  hero  to  the  German 
people  at  large  who  roused  in  them  anew  a  pride  in 
their  own  country,  yet  he  himself  ostentatiously  de- 
spised it,  and  preferred  France.  Of  course  there  was 
another  class,  of  which  his  father  may  be  taken  as  the 
type,  who  hated  foreign  ways  and  upheld  whatever 

S.L.  VI.  s 


2>i 


CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


was  most  antiquated  and  unrefined  as  peculiarly  Ger- 
man ;  but  in  general  the  tide  set  in  favour  of  the 
foreigners.  The  pastoral  school  was  an  imitation  of 
the  Italians  ;  the  French  were  now  the  great  models, 
and  very  unfortunate  ones  for  a  people  whose  natural 
genius  was  so  totally  different.  German  literature 
reached  its  lowest  ebb  under  these  influences,  and  one 
of  the  earliest  signs  of  its  revival  was  a  rebellion 
against  French  classicism,  and  an  admiration  for  our 
Shakespeare  and  Milton. 

Religion  suffered  under  the  same  depression.  On 
the  one  hand  was  a  rigid  Lutheranism,  which  had 
petrified  what  had  once  been  living  convictions  into 
dead  dogmas,  and  which  gave  its  whole  attention  to 
controversies  about  definitions  of  doctrines  in  which 
the  people  had  ceased  to  feel  a  genuine  interest.  On 
the  other  was  a  genteel  indifference,  which  idolized 
"  enlightenment "  (the  favourite  watchword  of  the 
eighteenth  century),  and  indemnified  itself  for  its  com- 
pliance with  certain  outward  observances  by  laughing 
at  the  whole  affair  in  private.  Rabener,  a  satirist  of 
this  period,  when  characterising  the  earlier  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  says,  "There  was  a  time  in  Ger- 
many when  no  satire  could  be  witty  at  the  expense  of 
anything  but  the  Bible,  and  there  were  lively  heads 
which  had,  so  to  speak,  a  complete  satirical  concord- 
ance in  readiness,  that  their  wit  might  never  run  dry. 
...  If  a  groom  is  conscious  of  possessing  a  more 
cultivated  mind  than  the  dairymaid,  he  startles  her  by 
a  jest  on  some  text  or  hymn.  All  the  servants  scream 
with  laughter,  all  admire  him,  down  to  the  very  cow- 
boy, and  the  poor  dairymaid,  who  is  not  so  witty, 
stands  there  abashed." 


OLD  LUTHERANISM.  259 

It  was  against  all  this  formalism  and  indifference 
that  the  reaction  towards  a  more  spiritual  and  living 
faith  took  place,  which  is  known  by  the  name  of 
Pietism.  In  many  points  this  movement  resembled 
that  of  Methodism  in  England,  but  it  preceded  it  by 
seventy  years.  Like  Methodism,  it  laid  great  stress 
on  the  necessity  of  the  new  birth  ;  it  prohibited  certain 
amusements  and  modes  of  life  which  had  been  hitherto 
considered  as  at  least  harmless ;  and  it  encouraged 
private  assemblies  of  Christian  persons  for  purposes 
of  edification,  such  as  the  study  of  the  Scriptures 
or  the  interchange  of  spiritual  experiences.  Like 
Methodism,  too,  it  encountered  at  first  no  little  ridi- 
cule, and  even  persecution.  It  was  accused  of  being 
an  attempt  to  found  a  new  sect,  and  vehemently 
opposed  on  this  ground  ;  but,  unlike  Methodism, 
though  it  might  here  and  there  give  rise  to  some 
insignificant  bodies  of  separatists,  it  never  did  break 
off  from  the  national  church  of  the  country,  but  re- 
mained as  a  whole  a  movement  within,  not  outside  of 
it.  For  nearly  a  hundred  years  Pietism  exerted  a 
most  powerful  influence  both  on  the  religious  and 
social  life  of  Germany,  then  it  almost  entirely  dis- 
appeared in  the  new  world  of  thought  that  opened  on 
that  country  towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, and  it  is  only  in  recent  times  that  traces  of  its 
characteristic  style  of  piety  are  again  to  be  discovered 
there. 

The  type  of  character  that  we  meet  with  in  its 
earlier  followers  has  something  peculiarly  attractive 
about  it,— a  cordial,  active,  sincere  piety,  marked 
at  once  by  deep  and  earnest  emotion,  and  by  a  cer- 
tain simplicity  and  sobriety.    Ernst  Moritz  Arndt  says 

S  2 


26o         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

of  such  men:  "I  can  still  remember  having  seen  in 
my  early  boyhood  old  men  of  Spener  and  Franke's 
school  in  pulpits  and  in  houses  ;  and  the  blessedness 
of  their  strong  and  strengthening  faith,  the  serene, 
quiet  cheerfulness  of  a  life  which  no  sorrows,  no 
storms  of  the  world  without,  no  unreasonableness  of 
men,  could  disturb  or  lay  waste,  still  floats  like  a 
lovely  flower  before  the  eye  of  memory."  Spener, 
and  through  him  his  immediate  disciples,  had  been 
led  to  see  a  truth  which  might  well  produce  this 
result.  For  what  their  favourite  theme  of  the  insuf- 
ficiency of  a  dead  faith,  and  the  necessity  of  a  change 
in  the  heart  and  life,  really  meant  was  this :  that  no 
mere  intellectual  acceptance  of  certain  doctrines,  how- 
ever true,  would  save  a  man,  but  only  a  heart  and 
will  set  right  towards  God  and  his  neighbour,  which 
must  manifest  themselves  in  a  life  of  prayer  and 
charity.  Thus  they  had  learnt  that  Christianity  was 
not  primarily  a  system  of  doctrine,  but  a  life ;  for 
them  religion  had  been  brought  back  from  the  sphere 
of  mere  reasoning  and  controversy  to  that  of  affection 
and  practical  conduct.  In  after  years  the  negations 
and  limitations  of  Pietism  also  bore  their  appropriate 
fruit,  and  of  a  very  different  kind  ;  but  as  yet  we  have 
to  do  only  with  its  true  and  nobler  side. 

Its  founder  was  Philip  Jacob  Spener,  who  was 
born  in  1635  in  a  little  village  of  Alsace.  His  parents 
were  pious  persons,  who  dedicated  their  little  son 
from  his  birth  to  the  ministry,  and  rejoiced  to  see 
that  even  as  a  child  he  showed  signs  of  unusual 
seriousness.  He  seems  indeed  through  life  to  have 
possessed  one  of  those  sweet  and  harmonious  cha- 
racters which,  when  strengthened  and  ennobled  by  an 


'     EARLY  PIETISM.  261 

earnest  religion,  pass  untouched  through  temptation, 
and  attract  affection  and  admiration  from  all  sides. 
As  a  child,  it  is  said  those  who  had  charge  of  him 
could  not  remember  that  he  ever  committed  any- 
actual  fault ;  once,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  he  joined  in 
a  dance,  but  remorse  for  what  he  thought  a  worldly- 
compliance  made  him  rush  away  from  it  in  tears  of 
bitter  sorrow.  He  went  through  school  and  more 
than  one  university  with  distinction,  and  blameless 
as  to  the  ordinary  errors  of  youth ;  travelled  for 
some  years ;  was  tutor  to  two  princes  of  the 
Palatinate ;  then  took  orders,  married,  and  was 
appointed,  at  the  age  of  thirty-one,  first  preacher 
and  pastor  of  Frankfort-on-the-Maine.  Here  his 
sermons,  so  unlike  the  dry  controversial  disquisitions 
stuffed  with  Greek  and  Latin  quotations  which  the 
people  were  accustomed  to  hear,  soon  drew  crowds  to 
his  church,  and  many  persons  came  to  him  in  private 
for  further  counsel.  Thus  grew  up  certain  meetings 
for  conversation  on  religious  subjects,  which  after- 
wards became  celebrated  under  the  name  of  '^collegia 
pieiatts."  They  were  held  at  first  in  his  house,  and 
when  the  numbers  became  too  great,  in  his  church  ; 
both  men  and  women  were  present,  but  as  a  rule 
the  men  only  spoke.  He  also  wrote  a  book  on  the 
necessity  of  a  complete  reformation  in  the  Church, 
which  excited  great  attention ;  and  he  took  up  warmly 
the  cause  of  education,  especially  of  the  very  lowest 
classes.  For  twenty  years  he  laboured  in  Frankfort, 
doing  much  good,  but  virulently  attacked  by  the 
old  orthodox  party,  who  saw  no  use  in  these  new 
lights,  and  wished  to  expel  him  from  the  Church  ; 
and  not  a  little   embarrassed  at  times  by  the  zeal 


262         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

of  some  of  his  own  converts,  who  began  to  declare 
that    the    Lutheran    Church    was    Babylon,    and    it 
was  a  duty  to  come  out  of  her.     About  this  time, 
in    1686,    the   Elector   of    Saxony,    who   in   passing 
through    Frankfort    had    heard  him   preach,    invited 
him   to   accept    the    post   of    first   preacher  to   the 
Court  at  Dresden,  a  place  which  was  then  considered 
to   be   the   highest  dignity  in   the   whole   Lutheran 
Church,  and  carried  with  it  great  influence  on  eccle- 
siastical affairs  in  general.     Spener  accepted  it,  and  at 
once  began  to  enlarge  his  sphere  of  labour.     Besides 
his  directly  pastoral  duties,  he  now  received  into  his 
house  a  number  of  young  men  who  wished  to  become 
clergymen,  one  of  whom,  August  Herrmann  Franke, 
was  in  after  years  his  own  chief  coadjutor  and  suc- 
cessor in  the  new  movement.     He  also  carried  through 
various  reforms  in  the  Church  and  education  which 
he  had  much  at  heart,  among  others,  that  the  study 
of  the  Scriptures  in  the  original  languages  should  be 
made  an  imperative  part  of  the  theological  course  at 
the  University  of  Leipsic.     Of  course  all  this  energy 
raised  up  enemies  as  well  as  friends,  but  for  some 
time  the  Elector  and  the  mass  of  the  people  were 
in  his   favour,   and  nothing   could  be  done   against 
him.     Ere  long,  however,  he  himself  destroyed   his 
favour  with  the  Elector  by  addressing  to  him  a  private 
but  very  earnest  remonstrance  against  one  of  his  per- 
sonal vices,  that  of  intoxication.      The  Elector  was 
enraged  ;  Spener's  enemies  of  course  represented  that 
he  was  wanting  in  loyalty  and  proper  respect,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  resign.     He  was  next,  in  1689,  invited 
to  occupy  the  church  at  Berlin  where  Paul  Gerhardt 
had  preached,  and  the  remainder  of  his  life  was  spent 


PHILIP  JACOB  SPENER.  263 

in  that  city.  The  Elector  (son  of  the  great  Elector 
and  afterwards  King  of  Prussia)  was  his  friend,  and 
when  in  1694  he  founded  a  new  university  at  Halle, 
he  appointed  to  its  faculty  of  theology  the  pupils  and 
friends  whom  Spener  recommended  to  him.  Spener's 
influence  had  now  spread  over  a  wide  extent  of  Ger- 
many. He  had  raised  up  a  whole  school  of  energetic 
men,  who  were  carrying  out  his  ideas  in  the  pulpit,  in  the 
new  university,  and  in  schemes  of  active  benevolence 
such  as  had  been  hitherto  unknown.  In  Halle, 
Franke  was  establishing  the  first  Orphan-house;  in 
Berlin,  Baron  von  Canstein  was  setting  on  foot  the 
first  Bible  Society.  Throughout  Germany  people 
applied  to  him  for  advice  or  assistance,  so  that  he 
received  more  than  six  hundred  letters  in  a  year 
asking  for  spiritual  counsel,  besides  all  the  personal 
visits  for  a  similar  purpose  which  were  of  daily  occur- 
rence. Acute,  gentle,  dignified,  quick  in  reading 
character,  and  ready  in  sympathy,  he  seems  to  have 
been  remarkably  fitted  for  this  position  of  a  sort  of 
universal  confessor,  and  numbers  of  persons  whom  he 
had  never  seen  were  earnest  in  their  expressions  of 
gratitude  to  him  for  his  aid.  He  had  a  gentle,  clever 
wife  and  eleven  children,  and  his  house  was  then 
considered  to  be  the  model  of  an  orderly,  cheerful, 
Christian  household.  It  was  not  till  he  was  close  on 
seventy  that  his  strength  gave  way,  and  after  a  short 
illness  he  died  in  1705. 

Of  his  immediate  disciples,  the  most  noted  were 
Franke,  Joachim  Lange,  and  Breithaupt :  the  first  as  a 
spiritual  teacher  and  leader ;  the  second  as  the  most 
learned  representative  of  the  order,  and  its  champion 
in  the  controversies  of  the  day  ;  the  third  as  a  hard- 


264         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY.  - 

working  professor  of  theology  among  the  students 
of  Halle.  Franke  was  a  man  of  the  same  type  of 
piety  as  Spener,  but  more  ardent  and  passionate  in 
temperament.  He  belonged  to  a  respectable  family 
of  Lubeck,  where  his  father  was  Syndic;  and  in  1684, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  was  sent  to  the  university 
of  Leipsic,  The  fame  of  Spener  soon  attracted  him 
over  to  Dresden,  and  the  young  Franke  speedily  en- 
rolled himself  among  the  master's  most  attached 
disciples.  At  Spener's  instigation  in  1686,  as  a 
private  tutor,  he  opened  classes  for  the  study  of  the 
Bible,  and  though  when  he  began  them  not  a  single 
Bible  or  New  Testament  was  to  be  found  in  any  book- 
seller's shop  in  Leipsic,  within  a  few  months  he  had 
from  300  to  400  pupils,  many  of  whom  were  converted 
to  the  new  mode  of  life.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the 
name  of  Pietists  was  given  to  this  party  in  contempt, 
and  in  1690  their  opponents  in  the  university  suc- 
ceeded in  having  these  lectures  prohibited.  On  this 
Franke  joined  Spener  at  Dresden,  who  procured  him 
an  appointment  with  Breithaupt  to  a  church  at  Erfurt. 
There  his  private  meetings,  the  great  number  of  books 
that  were  sent  to  him,  and  above  all  the  startling 
effect  produced  by  his  sermons,  awakened  the  envy  and 
hostility  of  the  old  orthodox  and  the  Romanist  parties, 
who  united  in  accusing  him  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
prince  as  "one  of  the  men  who  are  turning  the 
world  upside  down."  One  of  his  packets  of  books  was 
seized,  and  he  was  summoned  before  the  council,  but 
when,  on  opening  it,  it  was  found  to  contain  nothing 
but  Bibles,  the  council  was  fain  to  let  him  go  again. 
Presently,  however,  a  decree  from  the  prince  deprived 
him  of  his  post,  and  commanded  him  to  leave  Erfurt 


AUGUST  HERRMANN  FRANKE.  265 

within  two  days,  and  it  was  on  his  journey  to  Gotha 
on  this  occasion  that  he  wrote  his  celebrated  hymn, 
"  Thank  God  that  towards  eternity."  A  few  months 
later,  through  Spener's  recommendation,  he  received 
the  incumbency  of  one  of  the  suburban  churches  of 
Halle,  with  a  promise  of  the  professorship  of  Greek 
and  Oriental  languages  in  the  university  about  to 
be  founded  there.  He  accordingly  went  to  Halle  in 
December  1691,  and  it  remained  his  residence  for 
thirty-five  years,  until  his  death  in  1727.  Shortly  after 
his  own  removal  there,  Breithaupt,  Lange,  Anton, 
and  other  friends  of  the  same  way  of  thinking,  also 
received  professorships  and  pulpits  in  Halle,  and  for 
many  years  Halle  continued  to  be  the  head-quarters 
of  the  Pietistic  movement.  Spener  had  given  to  it 
its  first  spiritual  impulse,  Franke  gave  it  its  practical 
organization  and  utility.  Numbers  of  students  flocked 
to  the  new  university ;  nothing  like  the  concourse  had 
been  seen  since  the  days  of  Luther  at  Wittenberg. 
Within  thirty  years  it  had  sent  out  more  than  6,000 
graduates  in  theology,  besides  some  thousands  who 
had  been  trained  in  the  theological  schools  founded 
by  Franke.  These  men  spread  themselves  all  over 
evangelical  Germany ;  early  in  the  eighteenth  century 
they  had  made  their  way  into  other  universities  than 
Halle,  and  occupied  the  majority  of  the  pulpits  in  all 
the  States,  while  even  the  old  orthodox  party  had 
been  gradually  modified  by  their  example,  and  had 
adopted  many  of  their  innovations.  But  Franke's 
great  work,  for  which  his  name  must  always  be  held 
in  grateful  remembrance,  was  that  he  first  in  his  times 
set  on  foot  schemes  of  organized  Christian  benevolence, 
and  recalled  Christian  people  to  the  duty  of  personal 


266         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

effort  for  the  most  degraded  classes  of  society.  The 
suburb  of  Glaucha,  where  his  church  was  situated, 
was  one  of  the  worst  parts  of  Halle,  in  which  all 
the  low  beer-houses  and  dancing  saloons  were  to 
be  found.  Its  population  was  excessively  poor  and 
totally  uncared  for ;  he  laboured  as  their  pastor,  gave 
relief  to  the  poor  in  a  systematic  manner,  sought 
out  employment  for  them,  founded  free  schools,  and 
finally  his  famous  Orphan-house.  In  these  under- 
takings he  obtained  personal  help  from  his  students ; 
money  was  another  matter.  He  began  his  schools 
with  four  dollars  and  sixteen  groschen,  his  Orphan- 
house  with  seven  dollars  ;  it  was,  as  he  himself  says, 
"founded  in  faith  and  prayer;"  he  had  no  lists  of 
subscribers,  and  he  was  more  than  once  reduced  to  his 
last  shilling.  But  help  always  came  at  the  right 
moment ;  the  work  grew  and  prospered  as  more  people 
came  to  know  of  it,  and  at  last  he  had  the  happiness 
of  seeing  his  great  schools  built  on  what  had  been 
the  site  of  the  very  worst  houses  in  Glaucha,  At  the 
time  of  his  death  the  establishment  contained  145 
orphans  who  were  entirely  provided  for  there,  2,2CX> 
scholars  who  were  receiving  a  free  education,  and  it 
gave  daily  dinners  to  nearly  400  poor  students  at 
the  university,  while  it  also  included  a  printing  and 
publishing  house,  and  a  dispensary.  Similar  institu- 
tions were  founded  in  imitation  of  it  in  many  other 
German  towns,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
Germany  owes  to  the  Pietists  the  resuscitation  of  her 
educational  system  after  the  war,  the  introduction  of 
systematic  provision  for  the  poor,  and  the  revival  of  a 
purer  and  more  refined  domestic  life. 

During  all  this  period  the  hymnology  of  Germany 


FREYLINGHAUSEN.  267 

was  almost  entirely  in  their  hands.  Their  chief  singer 
was  Anastasius  Freylinghausen,  who  was  married  to 
Franke's  only  daughter,  and  was  his  father-in-law's 
Successor  in  the  pulpit  and  the  management  of  the 
Orphan-house.  He  was  a  man  of  gentle,  retiring 
disposition,  liable  to  severe  attacks  of  nervous  pain, 
but  of  unwearied  activity  and  a  most  loving  and 
disinterested  spirit.  Franke  used  to  say  that  his  own 
sermons  were  like  a  waterspout,  which  drenched  the 
land  but  soon  ran  off  again,  Freylinghausen's  like  a 
gentle  steady  shower,  which  penetrated  to  the  depths 
of  the  soil.  He  wrote  forty-four  hymns  of  his  own, 
and  in  1704  published  a  hymn-book  containing  both 
old  and  new  hymns,  which  remained  for  some  gene- 
rations the  favourite  collection  for  private  reading 
among  pious  persons  in  Germany.  It  went  through 
numberless  editions,  and  was  frequently  enriched  by 
new  additions.  One  of  Freylinghausen's  best  known 
hymns  is  the  following.  Several  others  have  been 
already  translated  into  English,  and  one  or  two  have 
found  their  way  into  our  hymn-books : — 

JESUS  IS  ALL  IN  ALL. 

Thou  art  First  and  Best, 

Jesu,  sweetest  Rest ! 
Life  of  those  who  else  were  dying, 
Light  of  those  in  darkness  lying, 

Ever  be  Thou  blest, 

Jesu,  sweetest  Rest. 

Life,  that  stooped  to  be 

Slain  for  such  as  me, 
Who  to  save  us  death  hast  tasted, 
Pardon  life  and  blessings  wasted. 


268         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Take  away  our  load, 
Lead  us  back  to  God  ! 

Brightness  of  His  Face  !l 

To  redeem  our  race, 
Ere  time  was,  Thou  wast  appointed. 
Thou  didst  veil  Thee,  God's  Anointed, 

In  our  human  race : 

Brightness  of  His  Face  ! 

Conqueror,  Thou  alone 

Hast  the  powers  o'erthrown 
Of  the  world,  the  flesh,  the  devil ; 
Souls  that  once  were  slaves  to  evil, 

Thou  hast  made  Thine  own, 

Conqueror,  Thou  alone ! 

Highest  Majesty  ! 

King  and  Prophet !  see 
To  Thy  gentle  rule  submitting, 
At  Thy  feet  like  Mary  sitting, 

I  would  learn  from  Thee, 

Highest  Majesty ! 

O  Thou  Light  Divine  ! 

Make  me  wholly  Thine. 
Wisdom  by  Thy  Spirit  knowing. 
With  Thy  love  and  ardour  glowing. 

Thou  within  me  shine, 

O  Thou  Light  Divine  ! 

Thy  humility 

And  Thy  kindness  be 
In  my  heart  for  ever  dwelling, 
Pride  and  anger  thence  dispelling, 

Till  Thyself  Thou  see 

Mirrored,  Lord,  in  me. 


FREYLINGHAUSEN.  269 

Is  my  foolish  mind 

To  the  world  inclined? 
Strengthen  it  no  more  to  waver, 
But  to  seek  alone  Thy  favour, 

Wealth  in  Thee  to  find  ; 

Grant  me,  Lord,  Thy  mind. 

In  the  darksome  night. 

When  the  billows'  might 
Roars  around  my  little  vessel. 
And  with  bitter  fears  I  wrestle. 

Let  Thy  arm  of  might 

Save  me  in  the  night. 

Let  my  soul  be  strong, 

Bold  to  suffer  wrong 
For  Thy  sake  though  I  should  perish ; 
Life  nor  earthly  wealth  to  cherish, 

All  to  Thee  belong  ; 

Only  make  me  strong. 

And  when  I  must  die 

Let  me  feel  Thee  nigh ; 
Through  the  valley  walk  beside  me, 
To  the  heavenly  glory  guide  me, 

Till  I  find  me  nigh 

To  Thy  throne  on  high. 

Almost  all  the  leading  men  of  this  school  occa- 
sionally composed  hymns,  but  there  were  many 
among  them  who  did  not  write  more  than  two  or 
three.  Franke  himself  wrote  only  three  hymns,  which 
were  all  good :  the  one  already  named,  "  What 
within  me  and  without,"  and  a  third,  better  known 
in  Bogatzky's  version,  "  Awake,  thou  Spirit,  who  of 


270  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

old."     Spener  wrote  eleven,  from  which  we   choose 
the  following : — 

QUIETNESS  OF  HEART. 

Shall  I  o'er  the  future  fret, 
And  the  past  for  aye  regret  ? 
Shall  I  ne'er  at  evening  close 
Smiling  eyes  in  calm  repose  ? 
Shall  the  thought  be  ne'er  forgot, 
What  may  be  my  future  lot  ? 
Since  these  torturing  cares  are  vain, 
And  their  end  can  ne'er  attain. 

God  hath  kept  me  hitherto  ; 
Can  He  cease,  then,  to  be  true  ? 
Why  should  I  just  now  despair, 
Can  He  weary  of  His  care  ? 
Hence,  tormenting  terrors,  hence  ! 
God  shall  be  my  confidence ; 
Let  Him  lead  me  as  He  will, 

0  my  soul,  and  be  thou  still. 

Whatsoe'er  my  heart  hath  planned. 
He  alone  can  understand 
What  is  good  and  well  for  me, 
What  will  really  hurtful  be ; 
If  I  will  but  let  Him  choose. 
No  true  good  I  e'er  shall  lose, 
But  self-will  and  busy  thought 
Oft  mistaken  paths  have  sought. 

If  obscure  my  place  and  low, 

1  will  bid  my  proud  heart  know 
'Tis  the  safer  from  a  fall. 

Free  from  cares  that  vex  and  thrall ; 


PHILIP  JACOB  SPENER.  271 

Or  if  God  would  have  me  great, 
I  accept  my  high  estate, 
He  the  needful  powers  will  give 
Worthily  to  Him  to  live. 

If  He  send  within  my  door 

Worldly  wealth  unknown  before, 

May  He  also  let  me  find 

Wealth  of  soul  and  heart  and  mind ; 

Or  if  poverty  be  sent, 

I  can  still  be  well  content, 

For  a  rich  eternity 

Well  I  know  is  waiting  me. 

If  my  God  should  health  bestow, 
Zealously  I  strive  to  show 
How  I  thank  Him,  how  my  aim 
Is  to  spread  His  glorious  Name ; 
And  when  sickness  comes  again, 
May  His  Spirit  'mid  my  pain 
Whisper,  "  There  is  blessing  true 
In  this  bitter  medicine  too." 

If  I  number  many  a  year 
In  life's  ever-vexed  career. 
Oft  my  heart  will  find  a  day 
When  awhile  it  may  be  gay; 
Or  if  soon  the  end  shall  come, 
I  am  but  the  sooner  home, 
Freed  from  all  my  sorrows'  load, 
Happy  with  my  Lord  and  God. 

So  to  God  I  leave  it  all ; 
Whatsoe'er  may  here  befall, 
Joy  or  trial,  life  or  death, 
I  receive  it  all  in  faith, 


272         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

And  this  anxious  heart  of  mine 
Learns  to  trust  its  Guide  Divine, 
Since  it  well  hath  understood 
All  things  work  the  Christian  good. 

The  number  of  hymn-writers  among  the  Pietists 
is  thus  very  large :  among  the  principal  of  the  older 
school  are  Lange ;  Winkler  and  Schade,  two  of 
Spener's  curates  in  Berlin ;  the  Freiherr  von  Canitz, 
one  of  his  earliest  noble  converts,  and  an  author  of 
merit  in  general  literature ;  Richter,  the  physician  of 
the  Orphan-house  at  Halle  ;  and  Laurentius  Laurenti, 
precentor  of  the  cathedral  at  Bremen.  Two  of  the 
best  hymns  of  this  period  were  written  by  men  who, 
as  far  as  we  know,  never  wrote  any  others.  One  is 
"All  praise  and  thanks  to  God  Most  High,"  which 
was  composed  in  1673  by  Johann  Schutz,  a  man  of 
high  standing  in  the  Town  Council  of  Frankfort, 
who  was  Spener's  most  intimate  friend  during  his 
residence  in  that  city :  the  other  is,  "  Whate'er  my 
God  ordains  is  right,"  of  which  the  author  was  Samuel 
Rodigast,  head-master  of  the  principal  gymnasium  of 
Berlin,  and  also  a  friend  of  Spener's.  He  wrote  it 
in  1675  for  a  sick  friend. 

Of  the  younger  Pietists  who  had  grown  up  under 
the  influence  rather  of  Franke  and  Freylinghausen 
than  of  Spener,  the  chief  hymn-writers  are  Allen- 
dorf,  pastor  of  St.  Ulrich's  Church  in  Halle,  Wol- 
tersdorf,  Rambach,  and  Bogatzky,  whose  name  is 
still  known  among  us  as  the  author  of  the  "  Golden 
Treasury,"  a  work  which  has  been  translated  into 
most  European  languages,  and  from  fifty  to  a  hun- 
dred   years   ago   was  the   favourite   book    for   daily 


LATER  PIETISTS.  273 

devotional  reading  of  pious  people  in  England. 
Bogatzky  belonged  to  a  worldly  and  ambitious 
family ;  he  began  life  as  a  page  at  court,  and  his 
father  was  bent  on  his  entering  the  army.  He  him- 
self was  even  then  more  inclined  to  study ;  and  a 
certain  friend  of  his  family,  an  old  Count  Reuss,  a  reli- 
gious and  clever  man,  induced  his  father  to  let  him 
go  to  Halle  and  see  Franke.  The  result  was  his 
determination  to  study  theology,  and  to  cast  in  his 
lot  with  the  Pietists.  His  delicate  health  prevented 
him  from  ever  taking  the  regular  charge  of  a  church, 
and  he  devoted  himself  through  life  to  authorship, 
assistance  in  charitable  undertakings,  and  speaking  in 
private  assemblies.  His  noble  birth  procured  him 
admittance  to  the  higher  circles  of  society,  and  he 
counted  many  converts  among  the  nobility  of  Silesia, 
Bohemia,  and  Saxony.  Freylinghausen,  and  after- 
wards Franke's  son  Gottlieb  Franke,  were  his  most 
intimate  friends ;  and  the  latter  invited  him,  after  his 
wife's  death,  to  occupy  apartments  in  the  Orphan- 
house,  where  the  last  twenty-eight  years  of  his  life 
were  spent,  until  his  death  in  1774,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-four.  He  lived  long  enough  to  see  the  tide  of 
feeling  in  Halle  turned  against  the  Pietists  who  had 
so  long  swayed  it,  and  in  favour  of  the  scepticism 
which  was  then  spreading  from  France  into  Germany  ; 
and  this  experience  darkened  his  later  years,  for  in 
place  of  the  veneration  with  which  he  had  been  once 
regarded,  he  was  frequently  the  subject  of  ridicule 
and  of  attacks  from  the  younger  students.  Bogatzky, 
with  the  other  writers  just  named,  were  the  chief 
authors  of  a  certain  collection  of  hymns,  called  from 
its  place  of  publication  the  "  Cothcn  Hymns."  Both 
s.L.  vr.  X 


274         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

in  character,  and  in  the  position  it  occupied  in  the 
religious  history  of  the  time,  this  book  strongly- 
resembled  the  "  Olney  Hymns "  of  Newton  and 
Cowper;  but  comparatively  few  of  its  original  pro- 
ductions are  now  ranked  among  the  classical  hymns 
of  Germany.  Those  of  Bogatzky  are  among  the 
best ;  he  composed  about  four  hundred  hymns  in 
all  for  this  and  other  collections,  some  of  which  have 
great  thoughtfulness  and  dignity,  but  not  the  sim- 
plicity or  melody  which  would  adapt  them  for 
congregational  use.  The  following  was  composed 
after  witnessing  a  storm  among  the  mountains  of 
the  Riesengebirge  : — 


THE  ALMIGHTY  GOD. 

Jehovah,  God  of  boundless  strength  and  might, 

How  great  Thy  glory,  Lord,  in  all  the  earth  ! 
How  wondrously  Thy  wisdom  guides  aright 

The  creatures  all  to  whom  Thy  Word  gave  birth  ! 
Thou  only  art  the  Lord  for  evermore, 

Perfection  absolute  alone  art  Thou, 

Worthy  alone  that  heaven  and  earth  should  bow 
Before  Thy  throne,  and  awe-struck  Thee  adore. 

The  hosts  of  heaven  proclaim  Thee  wise  and  just, 
And  every  flower  that  blooms  beside  our  ways. 

Each  tiny  worm  that  creeps  along  the  dust, 

Or  murmuring  forest-bough,  declares  Thy  praise  ! 

Alas  !  that  man  for  whom  these  all  were  made. 
Himself  his  Maker's  master-piece, — that  he 
So  slow  to  praise  and  gratitude  should  be, 

So  apt  to  rest  in  what  must  pass  and  fade  ! 


BOGATZKY.  275 


Ah  who  would  dare  rebel  against  Thee  here  ? 

Who  pride  himself  on  gifts  that  are  not  his  ? 
Who  fail  to  worship  Thee  in  lowly  fear? 

Nor  trust  the  care  that  cannot  guide  amiss  ? 
Hath  man  once  owned  Thy  great  Omnipotence, 

Mistrust  and  doubt  he  then  can  cast  aside 

And  in  humility  and  hope  abide, 
Though  clouds  may  veil  Thy  ways  from  sight  and  sense. 

Before  Thy  power  the  hills  and  valleys  shake, 

The  winds  and  waves  are  silent  at  Thy  word  ; 
The  devils  hear  it,  and  with  fear  they  quake, 

While  all  the  heavens  to  quicker  joy  are  stirred. 
O'er  countless  worlds  Thou,  mighty  King,  dost  reign  ! 

And  yet  in  me  dost  condescend  to  dwell ; 

Must  not  Thy  presence  every  fear  dispel. 
Or  could  I  trust  Thy  power,  my  God,  in  vain  ? 

Eternal  Being  !  Perfect  Purity  ! 

Exalted  evermore.  Thou  triune  God  ! 
What  am  I,  Lord  of  Hosts,  compared  to  Thee  ? 

How  canst  Thou  choose  my  heart  for  Thine  abode  ? 
I  cast  me  down  before  Thee  in  the  dust, 

Low  at  Thy  feet  a  withered  leaf  I  lie, 

Yet  Thou  dost  bid  me  with  Thy  hosts  on  high 
Sing  of  Thy  praise,  look  up  to  Thee  and  trust. 

Would  I  could  praise  Thee  with  an  angel's  tongue  ! 

By  all  that  lives  and  breathes  below,  above. 
In  earth  and  heaven,  O  be  Thy  praises  sung, 

And  teach  my  heart  Thee,  only  Thee,  to  love  ! 
O  Lord  of  Hosts,  fill  Thou  my  every  thought. 

In  all  things  let  me  seek  Thy  glory  first, 

All  idol-worship  be  to  me  accurst, 
For  Thou  art  God  alone,  and  I  am  nought. 
T  2 


276         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

By  the  end  of  the  century,  the  influence  of  Pietism 
was  perceptible  in  many  quarters  where  it  was  not 
formally  accepted.  The  old  orthodox  party,  as  it  was 
called,  changed  its  character,  and  the  best  of  its  hymns 
are  henceforward  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from 
those  of  the  Pietists.  Little  of  real  merit  was  pro- 
duced at  this  time,  though  two  of  the  writers  of  this 
school,  Neumeister,  a  pastor  in  Hamburg  (died  1756), 
and  Schmolke,  wrote  an  enormous  quantity.  The 
latter  (1672-1737)  was  called  in  his  own  day  the 
"Silesian  Rist,"  and  had  really  much  in  common 
with  Rist — his  extraordinary  facility,  his  tendency  to 
wordiness,  and  his  occasional  excellence.  Schmolke 
composed  altogether  11 88  poems  and  hymns  of  a 
religious  character,  and  it  may  well  be  imagined 
that  a  large  number  of  them  are  poor  enough ; 
yet  a  few  are  really  very  good,  with  an  easy  flow, 
a  heartiness,  and  a  simplicity  that  are  rarely  found 
among  the  hymns  of  this  period.  He  was  for  many 
years  the  pastor  of  Schweidnitz,  in  Silesia,  and  was  a 
man  of  great  personal  piety,  which  was  proved  by  the 
patience  and  cheerfulness  with  which  he  bore  seven 
years  of  illness  following  a  paralytic  stroke. 

A  good  many  of  Schmolke's  best  hymns  have  been 
translated  into  English  already ;  we  therefore  give 
one  from  another  writer  of  the  so-called  "orthodox 
party,"  whose  hymns  are  among  the  most  thoughtful 
and  poetical  of  this  period.  This  is  Wolfgang 
Dessler  (1660-1722),  a  pupil  of  Erasmus  Finx  of 
Nuremberg,  and  head-master  of  the  grammar-school 
of  that  city. 


WOLFGANG  DESSLER.  277 

A  SONG  OF  THE  CROSS. 

Courage,  my  heart,  press  cheerly  on 

Along  the  thorny  way, 
For  joy  shall  come  with  victory  won, 
Though  pain  be  ours  to-day : 
Nor  shrink  the  load  to  take 
^Vhich  love  shall  easy  make ; 
Can  these  light  transient  woes  compare 
With  glory  that  awaits  us  there  ? 

'Twas  by  a  path  of  sorrows  drear 

Christ  entered  into  rest ; 
And  shall  I  look  for  roses  here 
Or  think  that  earth  is  blest  ? 
Heaven's  whitest  lilies  blow 
From  earth's  sharp  crown  of  woe, 
Who  here  his  cross  can  meekly  bear 
Shall  wear  the  kingly  purple  there. 

Where  would  the  garden's  splendour  be 

If  north  and  south  winds  slept  ? 
Its  spices  flow  most  fragrantly 
When  long  the  clouds  have  wept. 
Only  do  Thou  remain 
My  Rest  in  every  pain, 
My  Sun  that  cheers  me  still  with  light," 
When  storms  of  grief  would  else  aflright. 

For  Thou,  my  God,  art  Sun  and  Shield 

To  every  faithful  heart, 
That  to  be  made  like  Thee  would  yield 
To  trial's  fiercest  smart, 

Would  bear  earth's  darkest  woe 
If  Heaven  may  but  bestow 
On  patient  love  the  martyr's  palm, 
For  vanquished  grief,  Thy  perfect  calm. 


2/8        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

And  yet,  dear  Lord,  this  shrinking  heart 

Still  trembles  as  of  yore  : 
Come,  Cross  beloved,  nor  e'er  depart 
Till  I  have  learnt  Thy  lore  ! 
Here,  scorned  with  Him  I  love. 
There,  crowned  with  Him  above  ; 
Here  to  the  cross  with  Jesus  pressed. 
There  comforted  with  Him  and  blest. 

Then  I  will  meekly  yield  me  up 

To  suffer  all  Thy  will ; 
I  know  the  seeming  bitter  cup 
O'erflows  with  mercy  still ; 
In  every  cross  I'll  see 
The  crown  that  waits  for  me. 
Thy  patience  shines  and  beckons  on 
Until  the  starry  heights  are  won. 

In  Southern  Germany  Pietism  found  its  most  con- 
genial soil  in  Wurtemberg,  where  the  ground  had 
already  been  prepared  by  the  labours  of  Andrea. 
At  first  it  showed  itself  in  small  fanatical  sects,  which 
drew  down  on  themselves  not  a  little  contempt 
and  even  persecution,  and  a  prohibition  of  all  private 
meetings  for  any  religious  purpose  whatever.  But  it 
soon  found  an  excellent  leader  in  Albert  Bengel  (1687- 
1732),  one  of  the  brightest  examples  of  this  school. 
He  was  a  man  of  earnest  piety,  and  of  a  remark- 
ably powerful  and  sagacious  mind,  whose  position  as 
head  of  the  important  theological  seminary  of  Den- 
kendorf,  and  afterwards  as  prelate  and  member  of  the 
consistory,  gave  him  great  influence  over  the  whole 
development  of  religious  thought  in  Wurtemberg,  and 
enabled  him  among  other  things  to  procure  the  repeal 


PHILIP  FREDERICK  MILLER.  279 

of  the  law  against  religious  meetings.  He  was  the 
author  of  many  prose  works  on  theology,  of  which 
those  on  Biblical  criticism,  especially  his  "  Gnomon," 
held  a  high  place  in  the  estimation  of  theologians ; 
and  he  also  wrote  a  few  good  hymns.^  But  the 
chief  poet  of  this  part  of  Germany  was  Philip 
Frederick  Hiller.  He  was  the  son  of  a  pastor  in 
Wurtemberg  (1699- 1769),  a  pupil  and  afterwards  a 
friend  of  Bengel's,  and  himself  a  pastor  in  two  or  three 
villages  of  his  native  country,  and  finally  for  many 
years  at  a  small  place  called  Steinheim.  In  his  early 
manhood  he  was  a  small,  fair,  active  man,  cheerful 
and  alert,  with  a  fine  resonant  voice,  and  great  skill 
in  music,  and  he  was  happily  married.  But  life 
brought  him  many  depressing  trials  ;  he  had  a  large 
family,  and  an  extremely  small  income ;  the  part  of 
the  country  where  he  lived  was  one  in  which  the  sec- 
tarian spirit  was  strongest,  and  the  principal  families 
in  his  parish  were  infected  by  it,  and  either  rejected 
his  ministrations  or  received  them  in  an  unfriendly 
and  critical  spirit.  He  fell  into  ill  health,  and  after  a 
long  struggle  with  it  he  was  obliged  to  succumb  in 
his  fifty-second  year,  and  give  up  preaching.  With 
rest  he  recovered  to  some  extent,  but  he  entirely  lost 
his  voice,  so  that  for  the  rest  of  his  life  he  could  only 
speak  in  a  husky  whisper.  Still  he  continued  to  hold 
the  living  of  Steinheim ;  he  had  a  curate  to  preach 
for  him,  and  he  was  able  after  a  time  to  resume  most 
of  his  pastoral  duties,  while  the  enforced  leisure  which 

1  He  was  a  student  of  prophecy,  and  fixed  on  the  year  1S36  as  the 
close  of  the  present  dispensation,  candidly  adding,  liowcvcr,  "  .Should 
that  year  pass  over  without  some  wonderful  cliangc,  there  must  be  a 
fundamental  error  in  my  system." 


28o        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

his  illness  brought  him  was  occupied  with  writing 
religious  works.  Among  them  was  a  collection  of 
short  poems  in  alexandrines  called  "  Sacred  Morning 
Hours/'  and  a  "  Life  of  Jesus "  in  the  same  metre ; 
but  his  best  known  were  two  volumes  of  hymns : 
one,  called  the  "  Little  Paradise,"  consisted  chiefly  of 
poetical  versions  of  prayers  from  Arndt's  "  Garden 
of  Paradise ;"  the  other,  "  The  Casket  of  Spiritual 
Songs,"  was  entirely  original.  This  last  soon  obtained 
a  very  wide  popularity  throughout  Southern  Ger- 
many ;  it  is  still  the  commonest  book  in  Wurtemberg 
next  to  the  Bible  itself;  and  German  emigrants,  of 
whom  a  very  large  proportion  belong  to  these  regions, 
have  carried  it  to  the  backwoods  of  America  and  the 
mountains  of  the  Caucasus.  We  are  told  that  some 
thirty  years  ago  a  German  colony  in  the  latter  country 
was  attacked  by  a  hostile  tribe  of  Circassians,  and 
the  sons  and  daughters  carried  into  slavery.  As  they 
were  torn  from  their  parents'  arms,  some  of  the  latter 
hastily  cut  up  two  copies  of  Hiller's  "  Casket,"  and 
distributed  the  leaves  among  their  children  that  they 
might  not  forget  their  religion  among  the  barbarians. 
Hiller's  model  was  Paul  Gerhardt ;  he  has  indeed 
less  poetical  power  than  Gerhardt,  and  his  style  is 
more  purely  didactic,  but  his  hymns  are  never  in 
bad  taste,  never  irreverent  or  extravagant ;  they  are 
written  in  modest  scriptural  language,  and  their  pre- 
dominant tones  are  those  experiences  of  penitence,  of 
gratitude  to  the  Saviour,  of  trust  in  the  compassionate 
love  of  God,  which  are  common  to  all  Christians. 
Many  too  are  appropriate  to  special  conditions  of 
life,  such  as  health  or  sickness,  marriage,  childhood  or 
old  age,  and  thus  his  "Casket"  forms  a  useful  manual 


PHILIP  FREDERICK  HILLER.  281 

of  daily  devotion.  Well  is  it  for  any  people  that 
hymns  of  such  deep,  thoughtful,  practical  piety  should 
be  their  daily  spiritual  food.  We  give  two  of  tHe 
best  known :  the  first  is  more  reflective  and  less 
simply  popular  than  many  of  Killer's ;  the  latter  is 
a  very  favourite  hymn  in  sickness. 

THE  GROUND  OF  ALL  THINGS. 

Thou  fathomless  Abyss  of  Love, 

O  God,  Eternal  highest  Good  ! 
Whom  doth  some  wondrous  impulse  move 

To  pour  Thy  mercies  like  a  flood 
Around  our  life ;  Thou  Sea  of  Grace, 
,  Fountain  of  comfort  ever  nigh. 

Healer  of  souls  that  wounded  lie ; 
Hearken,  my  spirit  cries  to  Thee, 
O  very  Love,  canst  Thou  love  me  ? 

O  bounteous  Being  !  let  me  praise 

And  thank  Thee  from  my  spirit's  ground ; 

Thy  wisdom  far  transcends  our  gaze, 
Thy  loving-kindness  hath  no  bound  ; 

How  tender  to  the  sin-defiled, 
How  great  to  us  who  are  so  small, 
How  fatherly  and  true  to  all. 

Deigning  to  count  the  least  thy  child : 
Hearken,  my  spirit  cries  to  Thee, 
O  mighty  Love,  wilt  Thou  love  me  ? 

My  prayers,  my  longings  Thou  dost  hear, 
And  for  my  wants  dost  Thou  provide, 

Thou  countest  every  sigh  and  tear, 
No  sorrow  from  Thine  eye  can  hide, 


282         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


Thou  sendest  it,  and  know'st  it  well ; 
From  Thee  comes  pain  and  its  relief, 
Thou  triest  me  with  care  and  grief. 

That  faith  and  love  may  in  me  dwell ; 
And  so  my  spirit  cries  to  Thee, 
O  tender  Love,  now  love  Thou  me ! 

And  Thou  dost  all  our  sins  forgive, 

Thy  Word  hath  promised  grace  and  aid, 

Solace  and  light,  that  we  should  live 
Of  death  and  sin  no  more  afraid ; 

Thou  givest  us  Thy  dearest  Son, 

Made  of  our  race,  through  love  supreme. 
To  bear  our  burden  and  redeem 

The  souls  that  so  much  ill  had  done  ; 
And  so  my  spirit  cries  to  Thee, 
O  wondrous  Love,  canst  Thou  love  me  ? 

The  love  of  Christ  shall  bid  me  feel 
That  He  hath  made  me  all  His  own ; 

I  hear  that  pleading  love's  appeal 

Whene'er  His  gospel  is  made  known  ; 

And  His  example  here  on  earth 
Shall  be  my  rule  in  all  I  do, 
In  utmost  pain  my  pattern  true, 

My  Guide  in  time  of  wealth  or  dearth  \ 
Hearken,  my  spirit  cries  to  Thee, 
O  holy  Love,  dwell  Thou  in  me  ! 

That  Love  hath  suffered  and  was  slain 
To  make  my  death  a  thing  of  nought ; 

And  rose  to  glorious  life  again, 

That  I  might  rise  in  heart  and  thought 

And  hath  ascended  up  on  high, 


PHILIP  FREDERICK  HILLER.  283 

To  make  for  me  an  open  way 
To  heaven  itself,  where  day  by  day 
Our  faith  and  hope  may  upwards  fly ; 
Hearken,  my  spirit  cries  to  Thee, 
O  Son  of  Love,  now  love  Thou  me  ! 

And  Thou  Thy  Spirit  dost  bestow 

To  hallow  all  our  life  to  Thee, 
To  pour  clear  light  on  all  below, 

And  give  the  blinded  power  to  see  ; 
Thou  Comforter  from  age  to  age 

Of  all  the  weary,  all  who  weep ; 

Whose  peace  within  us  true  and  deep 
Is  earnest  of  our  heritage  : 

Hearken,  my  spirit  cries  to  Thee, 

Spirit  of  Love,  O  love  Thou  me  ! 


So  doth  Thy  boundless  Love  embrace 
My  life,  my  death,  and  life  to  come ; 

O  let  me  know  it  in  that  place 
Where  only  is  our  proper  home  ! 

Thy  Love  is  life  and  endless  rest : 
There  is  no  good  to  add  to  this, 
In  earth  or  heaven  our  only  bliss 

Is  by  Thy  Love  to  be  possest : 
Therefore  my  spirit  cries  to  Thee, 
O  Blessed  Love,  dwell  Thou  in  me  ! 


HE  MAKETH  ALL  OUR  BED  IN  OUR  SICKNESS. 

Bed  of  sickness  !  thou  art  sweet, 
If  I  lie  at  Jesu's  feet ; 
Only  there  true  health  I  find, 
Health  of  body  and  of  mind  ; 


284  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Only  there  is  living  life, 
When  His  voice  ends  fear  and  strife, 
"  Lo  thy  sins  are  all  forgot ;" 
Then  can  Death  affright  me  not. 

Lord,  I  thank  Thy  ceaseless  care  ; 
All  my  suffering  Thou  dost  share, 
Thou  true  penitence  hast  sent 
Whereof  needs  not  to  repent ; 
Breathest  longing  through  my  pain, 
Thy  salvation  to  attain, 
Breathest  faith  within  my  breast. 
On  Thy  grace  alone  to  rest. 

Great  Physician  of  the  soul, 
Thou  canst  fear  and  pain  control, 
Thine  the  power  is  to  forgive, 
Thine  to  make  faith  truly  live ; 
Is  this  sickness  for  me  meet  ? 
Lay  me  only  at  Thy  feet, 
I  shall  live  there  on  Thy  grace. 
Live  to  thank  Thee  and  to  praise. 

It  was  under  the  impulse  received  from  the  Pietists 
that  the  Reformed  Church  first  produced  any  hymn- 
writers  of  mark  ;  but  from  this  time  onwards  it  can 
show  a  succession  of  such  authors,  though  it  was 
never  nearly  so  rich  in  them  as  the  Lutheran.  Its 
first  poet  too  was,  with  the  exception  of  Tersteegen, 
by  far  its  best,  Joachim  Neander.  He  belonged  to  a 
family  of  Bremen  in  easy  circumstances,  and  in  his 
youth  was  a  wild  and  careless  student.  One  day  he 
and  two  of  his  comrades  went  into  St.  Martin's  Church 
at  Bremen,  with  the  intention  of  making  a  jest  of 
the   whole  affair.     But   the  sermon   touched  him  so 


JOACHIM  MEANDER  285 

deeply  that  he  determined  to  visit  the  preacher  in 
private ;  and  from  this  time  he  began  to  draw  back 
from  many  of  the  coarser  pleasures  in  which  he  had 
formerly  indulged.  But  he  was  still  a  passionate 
lover  of  the  chase,  and  once  followed  his  game  on 
foot  so  far  that  night  came  on,  and  he  utterly  lost  his 
way  among  rocky  and  wooded  hills,  where  the  climb- 
ing was  difficult  even  in  daylight.  He  wandered 
about  for  some  time,  and  then  suddenly  discovered 
that  he  was  in  a  most  dangerous  position,  and  that 
one  step  forward,  which  he  had  been  on  the  point  of 
making,  would  have  thrown  him  over  a  precipice.  A 
horror  came  over  him  that  almost  deprived  him  of 
the  power  of  motion,  and  in  this  extremity  he  prayed 
earnestly  to  God  for  help,  vowing  an  entire  devotion 
of  himself  to  His  service  in  the  future.  All  at  once 
his  courage  returned  ;  he  felt  as  though  a  hand  were 
leading  him,  and  following  the  path  thus  indicated,  he 
at  length  reached  his  home  in  safety.  From  this  day 
he  kept  his  vow,  and  a  complete  change  took  place 
in  his  mode  of  life.  After  completing  his  university 
course  he  accompanied  some  rich  merchants'  sons 
to  Frankfort,  and  here  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Spener,  Schiitz,  and  the  little  clique  of  religious 
persons,  of  whom  Spener  was  the  centre  in  that  city, 
and  a  warm  friendship  grew  up  between  them  which 
lasted  through  life. 

In  1674  he  was  made  head-master  of  the  grammar- 
school  at  Dusseldorf,  belonging  to  the  Reformed 
Church.  It  flourished  exceedingly  under  his  rule;  but 
he  also  set  on  foot  private  religious  meetings  after 
the  pattern  of  Spener's,  and  these  gave  great  offence. 
He  was  accused  of  heresy ;  and  one  day  the  elders 


286        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

of  the  church  made  their  way  into  the  school,  and 
before  the  pupils  charged  him  in  an  abusive  manner 
with  various  errors  of  doctrine,  ending  with  the  an- 
nouncement that  he  was  deposed  from  his  master- 
ship, forbidden  to  preach,  and  banished  from  the 
town.  His  pupils  would  have  liked  to  fight  for  him, 
but  he  forbade  them,  and  submitted.  It  was  summer- 
time, and  feeling  himself  utterly  friendless  there,  he 
wandered  out  to  a  deep  and  beautiful  glen  near  Mett- 
mann  on  the  Rhine,  where  for  some  months  he  lived 
in  a  cavern,  which  is  still  ■  known  by  the  name  of 
*'  Neander's  Cave."  In  this  retreat  he  composed  many 
hymns,  and  among  them  the  following : — 

SONG  OF  SUMMER. 

O  Thou  true  God  alone, 
Thou  Good  no  creature-soul  can  comprehend. 

Thou  great  and  Holy  One, 

The  Lord  of  Hosts  most  strong, 

To  Thee  I  raise  my  song, 
Thou  art  the  Lord,  whose  wonders  never  end ! 

A  deep  and  holy  awe 
Put  Thou,  my  God,  within  my  inmost  soul. 

While  near  Thy  feet  I  draw, 

And  my  heart  sings  in  me. 

And  my  voice  praises  Thee ; 
Do  Thou  111  wandering  sense  and  thought  control. 

Let  all  things  join  with  me 
To  tell  Thy  praises  and  Thy  fame  abroad ; 

Let  earth  and  sky  and  sea. 

With  voices  pure  and  clear. 

Resounding  far  and  near, 
Proclaim  how  great  the  glory  of  the  Lord ! 


JOACHIM  MEANDER.  287 

O  God,  the  crystal  light 
Of  Thy  most  stainless  sunshine  here  is  mine, 

It  floods  my  outer  sight ; 

Ah  let  me  well  discern 

Thyself  where'er  I  turn, 
And  see  Thy  power  through  all  Thy  creatures  shine. 

Lo,  how  the  cloudless  dome 
Like  to  a  clear  and  dazzling  mirror  gleams, 

Of  light  the  very  home  ; 

O  Thou,  transform  my  heart, 

Till  pure  in  every  part 
It  mirrors  back  undimmed  Thy  golden  beams. 

Hark,  how  the  air  is  sweet 
With  music  from  a  thousand  warbling  throats, 

Which  Echo  doth  repeat ; 

To  Thee  I  also  sing. 

Keep  me  beneath  Thy  wing, 
Disdain  not  Thou  to  list  my  harsher  notes. 

Ah  !  Lord,  the  universe 
Is  bright  and  laughing,  full  of  pomp  and  mirth ; 

Each  summer  doth  rehearse 

A  tale  for  ever  new, 

Of  wonders  Thou  canst  do 
In  sunny  skies  and  on  the  fruitful  earth. 

Thee  all  the  mountains  praise, 
The  rocks  and  glens  are  full  of  song  to  Thee ; 

They  bid  me  join  my  lays 

And  laud  the  Almighty  Rock, 

Who  safe  from  every  shock 
Beneath  Thv  shadow  here  dost  shelter  me. 


288         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

I  hear  the  waters  rush 
Far  down  beneath  me  in  the  hidden  glen, 

They  break  the  quiet  hush, 

And  quicken  all  my  mind 

With  keen  desire  to  find 
The  Fountain  whence  all  gladness  flows  to  men. 

How  various  and  how  fair 
I  find  Thy  works  where'er  I  turn  my  sight ; 

Beauty  is  everywhere 

Without  or  stint  or  bound, 

And  Wonder  all  around ; 
Would  that  all  hearts  would  ponder  this  aright ! 

Wisdom  hath  made  them  all, 
Its  order  reigns  through  all  these  wondrous  things  ! 

Earth's  brightness  doth  recall 

Thy  brighter  Love  to  mind, 

So  endless  and  so  kind ; 
Sing,  O  my  soul,  as  now  all  nature  sings. 

In  1679  h^  was  called  to  the  very  church  in  Bremen 
which  he  had  once  entered  in  mockery,  but  he  only 
preached  there  one  year;  he  died  at  Easter,  1680,  not 
quite  forty  years  old.  Neander's  style  is  unequal ; 
occasional  harshnesses  contrast  with  very  musical 
lines,  but  there  is  a  glow,  a  sweetness,  and  a  depth 
about  his  hymns  which  have  made  many  of  them, 
justly  and  lastingly  popular  among  the  German 
people. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  MYSTICS  AND  SEPARATISTS. 
A.  D.    1690 — 1760. 

The  impulse  given  to  religious  life  by  the  Pietistic 
movement  coincided,  to  a  certain  extent,  with  that 
received  from  the  study  of  Bohme  and  similar  writers, 
and  under  the  combined  action  of  the  two  a  number 
of  preachers  and  writers,  and  even  of  small  sects, 
sprang  up  in  various  parts  of  Germany,  who  seceded 
from  the  national  Church,  and  claimed  a  greater 
strictness  both  of  life  and  doctrine.  The  general 
characteristic  of  these,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  was  an 
exaggerated  individualism ;  because  religion  is  an 
inward  life  in  the  individual  soul,  therefore  to  them 
it  was  nothing  else.  The  outward  aids,  the  guiding 
principles  and  defined  sphere  of  action  presented  by 
the  written  Word  and  the  Church,  were  valueless,  or 
positive  stumbling-blocks  if  they  interfered  with  the 
movements  of  the  inspired  soul.  Some  of  these  men 
lost  themselves  in  wild  vagaries  of  belief  and  even  of 
morals  ;  as  the  followers  of  a  man  named  Eller  and 
a  woman  named  Eva  Butler,  who  made  many  con- 
verts in  Southern  Germany :  others  of  purer  life 
still  believed  themselves  to  enjoy  immediate  revela- 
tions, like  a  certain  Fraulein   von   Asscburg,  whose 

S.L.  vu  U 


290         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

visions  were  widely  talked  of  and  believed  in  by 
many  good  and  educated  persons  ;  indeed  a  whole 
sect  grew  up,  which  asserted  the  continuance  of  direct 
revelation  and  miraculous  gifts  in  the  believers,  and 
was  known  by  the  name  of  Inspirationists.  To  this 
belonged  an  iron-master's  apprentice  named  Rosen- 
bach,  and  a  wig-maker  of  Nuremberg  named  Tennhart, 
who  roamed  all  over  Germany  calling  themselves  the 
prophet  and  chancellor  of  God,  and  made  many 
proselytes.  In  Silesia  there  was  a  community  of 
inspired  children,  who  built  a  little  church  for  them- 
selves, preached  and  prayed  in  it,  and  whose  prayers 
were  supposed  to  have  a  wonder-working  power. 
But  there  were  not  wanting  among  these  Separatists 
men  of  a  far  higher  type,  of  unmistakeable  piety  and 
no  little  ability,  much  of  whose  conduct  and  teach- 
ings awaken  admiration,  though  marred  by  want  of 
breadth  and  judgment.  Such  men  were  Petersen, 
a  leader  of  the  Chiliasts,  or  those  who  were  looking 
for  a  speedy  advent  of  the  Lord ;  Dippel,  a  contro- 
versial writer  and  great  preacher, — he  was  the  chemist 
who  discovered  Prussian  blue  and  an  oil  that  bears 
his  name ;  and  Hochmann,  a  friend  of  Tersteegen,  who 
used  to  travel  about  the  country  attacking  the  luke- 
warmness  of  the  established  clergy,  and  would  rise 
up  in  church  when  the  sermon  was  over  and  preach 
another  from  his  own  point  of  view.  The  influence 
of  these  Separatists  on  hymnology  was  for  the  most 
part  simply  mischievous,  and  their  hymn-books  contain 
about  the  worst  specimens  to  be  found,  poor  as  poetry, 
fiercely  intolerant  towards  their  fellow-Christians,  and 
full  of  a  fantastic  and  irreverent  adoration  of  the 
Redeemer.     On  the  other  hand,  two  of  the   nobler 


GOTTFRIED  ARNOLD.  291 

minds  among  them  produced  some  of  the  very  best 
hymns  which  the  newer  school  has  to  show,  and 
which  were  at  once  adopted  with  delight  by  the  whole 
Evangelical  church  of  Germany.  These  were  Gott- 
fried Arnold  and  Gerhard  Tersteegen,  men  in  whom 
we  see  two  well-marked  and  differing  types  of  the 
mystic.  Arnold,  of  a  pas  sionate  impetuous  tempera- 
ment, has  a  soul  with  the  dusky  glow  of  a  repressed 
fire,  that  at  times  breaks  forth  into  a  clear,  ardent 
flame ;  Tersteegen's  mind,  naturally  humble  and  peace- 
loving,  is  like  a  profound  crystal  lake,  that  cares  only 
to  reflect  the  heavens  above  and  nothing  of  the  earth 
around.  It  must  be  observed,  however,  that  both 
these  men,  though  they  held  much  intercourse  with 
the  Separatists,  and  were  frequently  in  antagonism 
with  preachers  and  members  of  the  established 
churches,  yet  never  actually  joined  any  sect. 

Gottfried  Arnold,  born  in  1666  at  a  small  village  in 
Saxony,  was  the  son  of  a  poor  schoolmaster,  and  lost 
his  mother  while  he  was  yet  quite  a  child.  Thus  his 
early  years  were  marked  by  struggle  and  hardship, 
and  an  absence  of  that  home-tenderness  which  might 
have  softened  his  naturally  rugged  and  overbearing 
disposition.  In  1689  he  came  to  Dresden,  at  the  age 
of  two-and-twenty,  as  tutor  in  a  noble  family.  Here 
he  met  with  Spener,  was  strongly  attracted  by  him, 
and  considered  that  he  owed  his  conversion  to  Spcner's 
meetings  for  religious  conversation.  Their  friendship 
continued  through  life.  Spener  had  a  great  admira- 
tion for  Arnold's  genius  and  entire  conscientiousness, 
and  frequently  employed  his  influence  with  success 
on  his  behalf.  Arnold  was  deeply  attached  to  Spener, 
but  he  thought  him  too  gentle,  too  much  inclined  to 

U  2 


292  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

balance  between  the  opposite  sides  of  a  question,  and 
not  unfrequently  censured  his  practical  conduct.  At 
Dresden,  as  soon  as  he  was  converted,  he  at  once 
began  to  express  in  the  most  open  and  severe  manner, 
his  disapprobation  of  the  life  that  was  going  on  around 
him,  a  proceeding  which  of  course  led  to  an  abrupt 
dismissal  from  his  situation.  For  the  next  sixteen 
years  he  led  an  unsettled  life.  He  received  various 
appointments,  among  them  a  professorship  at  Giessen, 
and  wherever  he  went,  his  energy,  earnestness,  and 
eloquence  were  sure  to  produce  an  effect  and  to  win 
him  followers.  But  he  always  made  enemies  too 
by  his  fierce  attacks  on  whatever  seemed  to  him 
wrong,  especially  on  the  old  orthodox  party ;  and  as 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  familiar  intercourse  with  sec- 
tarians such  as  Dippel,  and  of  abstaining  from  divine 
service  and  the  Holy  Communion  where  he  was  not 
satisfied  with  the  minister,  it  was  easy  to  find  charges 
against  him  which  generally  ensured  his  removal 
after  a  time.  In  his  earlier  years  he  strongly  advo- 
cated an  ascetic  life,  and  spoke  much  in  praise  of 
celibacy,  but  at  the  age  of  thirty-four  he  married ; 
and  though  he  himself  testified  that  this  marriage, 
which  was  in  every  respect  a  suitable  one,  had  been  of 
great  assistance  to  him  in  the  spiritual  life,  it  gave 
offence  to  many  of  the  more  zealous  of  his  admirers. 
Yet  amid  all  these  distractions  he  was  a  man  of 
truly  German  industry  in  the  way  of  authorship,  his 
greatest  work  being  "An  Impartial  History  of  the 
Church  and  all  Heresies,"  which  earned  him  from  his 
adversaries  the  reproach  of  being  the  arch-heretic 
himself.  But  he  is  now  best  remembered  by  his 
hymns,  of  which   he  wrote    130,  and   among  them 


GOTTFRIED  ARNOLD.  293 

several  of  very  great  beauty.  Many  are  rather  poems 
than  hymns,  and  he  also  composed  a  number  of 
religious  madrigals  and  poetical  aphorisms,  but  these 
are  somewhat  sentimental  and  exaggerated  in  style, 
and  have  not  maintained  their  place  like  the  hymns. 
The  latter  first  appeared  in  1697,  under  the  title 
"  Sparks  of  Divine  Love,"  and  the  volume  was 
frequently  reprinted  with  additions. 

In  1707  Arnold  was  appointed  pastor  of  Perleberg 
in  Brandenburg,  and  here  he  spent  the  last  seven  years 
of  his  life  in  unwearied  activity,  but  in  peace,  for  his 
congregation  were  of  his  own  way  of  thinking,  and 
he  was  protected  by  the  King.  In  171 3  his  health 
began  to  fail,  and  at  Easter  17 14,  while  he  was  cele- 
brating the  Holy  Communion,  a  Prussian  recruiting 
party  burst  into  the  church  and  dragged  away  a 
number  of  young  men  from  the  very  steps  of  the 
altar.  This  outrage  and  his  unavailing  efforts  to 
save  the  members  of  his  flock,  so  affected  him  that 
he  took  to  his  bed  two  days  afterwards  and  died 
within  a  few  weeks. 

Perhaps  the  best  of  Arnold's  hymns  is  his  deeply 
thoughtful 

"  How  blest  to  all  Thy  followers,  Lord,  the  road ;" 

but  many  others  are  very  fine.  We  give  the  follow- 
ing :— 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 

Anoint  us  with  Thy  blessed  love, 
O  Wisdom,  through  and  through, 

Till  Thy  sweet  impulses  remove 
All  dread  and  fear  undue, 


294         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY.  A 


And  we  behold  ourselves  in  Thee 
A  purified  Humanity, 

And  live  Thy  risen  life. 

O  Perfect  Manhood,  oijce  again 

Descend  Thou  in  our  race, 
Be  all  its  lower  nature  slain, 

Transfoma  us  of  Thy  grace, 
Till  pure  and  holy  as  Thou  art 
Thine  image  shine  from  every  heart, 
And  Thou  within  us  live. 

Prepare  the  Church,  O  Lord,  Thy  Bride, 

With  glory  and  with  strength. 
Let  life  flow  from  her  far  and  wide, 

Till  she  may  see  at  length 
New  members  given  her  day  by  day. 
That  shall  not  wither  nor  decay, 

Wherein  Thyself  hast  joy. 

Redeemer,  Thine  the  power  alone, 

Ah  yield  Thee  to  us,  Lord  ! 
Let  God's  fair  temple  once  o'erthrown 

Be  in  our  race  restored  ; 
Thou,  Man  of  men,  didst  take  our  flesh 
Only  to  give  us  life  afresh. 

And  render  all  things  new. 

Then  all  the  glory  shall  return 

That  we  had  lost  of  yore. 
Long  severed  souls  shall  homewards  yearn 

And  cleave  to  Thee  once  more ; 
Then  shall  the  Father  and  the  Son 
Through  their  one  Spirit  make  us  one ; 

Christ's  prayer  at  last  fulfilled  ! 


GOTTFRIED  ARNOLD.  295 


LIFE'S  VOYAGE. 

Full  many  a  way,  full  many  a  path, 
The  all-encircling  Ocean  hath, 
Let  each  man  only  see  to  this, 
That  his  own  course  he  do  not  miss. 

Or  long  or  devious  be  thy  way, 
What  matter,  if  thou  do  not  stray  ? 
Or  lead  it  thee  by  east  or  west, 
What  matter,  if  thou  reach  thy  rest? 

The  ways  are  countless,  none  the  same, 
Yet  each  one  hath  its  proper  aim. 
Only  forget  not  aye  to  heed 
If  to  the  haven  thine  will  lead. 

For  there  are  currents  undiscemed. 
As  many  a  ship  too  late  hath  learned. 
That  deemed  itself  full  safe  to  be, 
Yet  sank  upon  the  open  sea. 

Another's  course  may  not  be  thine, 
But  Christ  on  all  alike  will  shine ; 
Leave  thou  thy  brother  where  he  is, 
Pursue  thy  way  in  quietness. 

One  is  the  haven ; — let  there  be 
In  us  who  seek  it,  unity ; 
Vast  is  the  ocean,  surely  there 
Is  room  for  all  men  and  to  spare. 

Then  heedfully  go  on  thy  way, 
Care  only  that  on  that  great  Day, 
Whether  thy  course  be  long  or  short, 
Thy  vessel  may  be  found  in  port. 


296  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


TRUTH. 

I  leave  Him  not,  who  came  to  save 
When  I  had  trifled  hope  away ; 

He  must  be  mine  until  the  grave 

Since  once  He  deigned  to  be  my  stay ; 

0  world,  I  put  thy  offers  by. 
My  loyal  love  hath  one  reply, 

I  leave  Him  not, 

1  leave  Him  not ; — for  since  He  chose 

Me  for  His  own,  I  choose  Him  too ; 
Since  He  for  me  faced  all  my  foes. 

In  death  itself  will  I  be  true ; 
Why  tempt  me,  Earth,  with  false  delight  ? 
Why  seek,  O  Hell,  my  soul  t'  affright? 
I  leave  Him  not. 

I  leave  Him  not ;  He  leaves  not  me. 
The  Saviour  evermore  the  same, 

Who  since  He  suffered  on  the  tree, 
Beareth  that  high  and  glorious  Name ; 

Whate'er  the  storms  that  on  me  fall, 

His  Godhead's  glory  streams  through  all : 
I  leave  Him  not. 

I  leave  Him  not ;  Earth  I  can  leave. 
With  all  her  glory  and  her  power, 

But  He,  to  whom  my  soul  must  cleave. 
Is  caring  for  me  every  hour. 

Leading  me  through  the  tedious  night, 

Up  to  the  very  Source  of  Light : 
I  leave  Him  not. 


GERHARD  TERSTEEGEN.  297 


I  leave  Him  not ;  what  wouldst  thou,  Sin  ? 

Thou  hast  been  buried  in  the  sea. 
What  would  ye,  depths  of  Hell,  begin  ? 

Ye  have  no  part  or  power  in  me  ! 
Thy  sting,  O  Death,  I  shall  not  feel, 
Christ  will  His  life  in  me  reveal : 
I  leave  Him  not. 

Gerhard  Tersteegen,  born  at  Mors  in  Westphalia  in 
1697,  was  the  son  of  a  respectable  tradesman  ;  he  was 
educated  at  the  grammar-school  of  his  native  place, 
and  then  bound  apprentice  to  an  elder  brother,  a  shop- 
keeper at  Mulheim.  From  his  childhood  he  was 
delicate  in  health,  thoughtful,  and  of  scrupulous 
conscience.  At  Miilheim  he  became  acquainted  with 
a  tradesman,  a  very  religious  man,  who  took  much 
notice  of  him,  and  under  his  influence  he  was  con- 
verted, and  resolved  to  devote  himself  entirely  to  the 
service  of  God.  His  days  were  busy,  but  he  used  to 
pass  whole  nights  in  prayer  and  fasting,  and  as  soon 
as  his  time  was  out  he  declared  his  intention  of  leaving 
his  brother,  and  choosing  some  more  retired  and  less 
disturbing  mode  of  life.  He  accordingly  removed  to 
a  little  cottage  near  Miilheim,  where  for  some  years 
he  supported  himself  by  weaving  silk  ribbons,  and 
lived  quite  alone,  except  for  the  presence  during  the 
day  of  a  little  girl  who  wound  his  silk  for  him.  His 
habits  were  very  simple ;  he  usually  took  nothing  but 
milk,  water,  and  meal,  never  touching  tea  or  coflfce, 
and  giving  away  in  charity  to  the  poor  the  money 
thus  saved.  His  relations,  who  seem  to  have  been 
a  thriving  and  money-getting  set  of  people,  were 
so  ashamed  of  this  poor  and  peculiar  member  of 
the  family,  that  they  refused  even  to  hear  his  name 


298        CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

mentioned,  and  when  he  was  sick  he  suffered  great 
privations  for  want  of  proper  care.  Yet  he  was 
very  happy  in  his  sohtude,  with  its  opportunities 
for  uninterrupted  meditation  and  communion  with 
God,  until  that  searching  trial  of  spiritual  deadness 
fell  upon  him,  which  so  many  of  God's  saints  have 
had  to  endure  for  a  time.  For  five  years  he  was 
in  a  "  state  of  darkness  ;"  he  had  no  sensible  impres- 
sion of  the  love  of  God,  nay,  there  were  hours 
when  he  began  to  doubt  whether  there  was  a  God 
at  all.     It  was  at  this  time  he  sang — 

"  Lost  in  darkness,  girt  with  dangers, 

Round  me  strangers, 
Through  an  alien  land  I  roam ; 
Outward  trials,  bitter  losses. 

Inward  crosses, 
Lord,  Thou  know'st  have  sought  me  home. 

Sin  of  courage  hath  bereft  me. 

And  hath  left  me 
Scarce  a  spark  of  faith  or  hope  ; 
Bitter  tears  my  heart  oft  sheddeth, 

As  it  dread  eth 
I  am  past  Thy  mercy's  scope. 

Peace  I  cannot  find ;  O  take  me. 

Lord,  and  make  me 
From  this  yoke  of  evil  free ; 
Calm  this  longing  never  sleeping, 

Still  my  weeping, 
Give  me  hope  once  more  in  Thee." 

He  could  obtain  no  help  from  outside ;  but  at  last 
one  day,  when  he  was  on  a  journey  to  a  neighbouring 


GERHARD  TERSTEEGEN.  299 

city,  he  received  such  an  internal  manifestation 
of  the  goodness  of  God  and  the  sufficiency  of  the 
Saviour,  that  all  doubts  and  troubles  vanished  in  a 
moment/  Henceforward  he  had  peace  and  joy,  and 
an  intense  power  of  realizing  the  unseen  which, 
combined  with  the  experience  he  had  lately  gone 
through,  gave  him  a  wonderful  faculty  of  touching 
and  strengthening  other  hearts.  He  now  (in  1725) 
admitted  a  young  friend,  named  Heinrich  Sommer, 
to  live  with  him.  The  two  worked  ten  hours  daily  at 
the  loom,  two  hours  Tersteegen  devoted  to  private 
prayer,  and  the  rest  of  his  time  to  writing  devotional 
works,  and  addressing  private  meetings  of  friends  on 
religion.  This  last  occupation,  which  he  had  begun 
reluctantly  and  in  the  quietest  manner,  soon  became 
his  principal  one.  So  many  persons  were  impressed 
by  him,  so  many  more  urgently  sought  the  oppor- 
tunity of  hearing  him,  that  he  was  at  last  induced  to 
give  up  his  weaving  altogether,  and  devote  himself  to 
this  informal  but  real  kind  of  ministry.  Considerable 
sums  of  money  had  been  already  offered  him  by 
friends,  which  he  had  invariably  declined ;  now  he 
accepted  a  small  regular  income,  but  in  order  that  he 
might  not  be  entirely  without  manual  occupation, 
he  set  up  a  dispensary  for  the  poor  in  his  house, 
and  compounded  the  medicines  himself,  employing 
an  assistant  as  the  work  increased.  The  thirty 
years  of  his  life,  from  thirty  to  sixty  years  of  age, 
were  spent  in  the  most  incessant  exertion  for  the 
good  of  others,  though  his  own  health  was  always 

*  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  on  this  occasion  that  he  wrote  with  his 
own  blood  a  form  of  self-dedication  to  Jesus  Christ  which  is  found  in 
the  preface  to  his  works. 


joo  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


delicate,  and  from  time  to  time  he  had  severe 
attacks  of  illness  and  of  neuralgic  pain.  From 
morning  to  night  he  never  had  a  moment  to  himself ; 
the  number  of  those  who  flocked  to  him  for  counsel 
was  so  great  that  there  were  frequently  twenty  or 
thirty  persons  waiting  in  his  outer  room  for  a  chance 
of  speaking  to  him,  while  his  meetings  were  always 
attended  by  as  many  as  could  crowd  into  the  rooms 
on  the  ground-floor  of  his  little  house,  about  four 
hundred  persons.  People  came  to  him  from  England, 
Holland,  Sweden,  and  Switzerland  ;  sick  persons 
would  send  for  him,  and  he  would  pass  hours  or  whole 
nights  by  their  bedside ;  if  he  went  into  the  neighbour- 
ing country  for  rest,  people  would  watch  for  him  by 
the  roadside,  and  carry  him  off  to  the  nearest  barn, 
where  a  congregation  would  immediately  assemble. 
He  had  an  immense  correspondence,  and  new  editions 
of  his  hymns  and  other  religious  works  were  con- 
stantly demanded.  To  his  quiet  temperament  this 
incessant  labour  and  absence  of  solitude  was  most 
uncongenial,  but  he  accepted  it  willingly  as  his 
appointed  task.  "  I  love  most  to  be  with  the  Father, 
but  I  am  glad  to  be  with  the  children,"  he  said.  His 
intercourse  with  those  who  came  to  him  seems  to  have 
been  marked  by  a  most  searching  insight  into  cha- 
racter, yet  by  a  gentleness  and  affectionateness, 
an  anxiety  to  cherish  even  the  faintest  sparks  of 
spiritual  life,  which  nothing  could  tire  out.  Some 
attempts  were  made  to  hinder  his  irregular  ministerial 
activity,  but  he  demanded  an  interview  with  the 
superior  clergy  of  his  native  place,  and  so  entirely 
justified  himself  in  their  eyes  that  they  never  allowed 
him  to  be  interfered  with.     Nor  did  he  ever  join  any 


GERHARD  TERSTEEGEN.  301 

sect,  though  many,  especially  the  Moravians,  made 
advances  to  him.  When  he  was  sixty-one,  the  exertion 
of  so  much  speaking  brought  on  an  internal  injury 
which  was  almost  fatal ;  he  recovered  and  lived  to 
the  age  of  seventy-four,  but  he  is  said  to  have  looked 
like  a  corpse,  and  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  all 
travelling,  and  addressing  large  assemblies.  But  he 
toiled  as  assiduously  as  ever  in  private  conversation 
and  correspondence,  and  was  able  to  revise  his  various 
books,  of  which  the  principal  were  "The  Spiritual 
Flower  Garden,"  a  volume  of  hymns  and  poems  ;  and 
"  Spiritual  Crumbs,"  a  collection  of  sermons  and  ad- 
dresses which  had  been  taken  down  in  short-hand. 
He  died  in  1769. 

Tersteegen  was  a  mystic  of  the  purest  type.  In  his 
earlier  days,  as  he  himself  tells  us,  he  laid  too  much 
stress  on  bodily  exercises  and  violent  emotions,  but  in 
later  life  he  was  singularly  free  from  extravagance  or 
intolerance.  "My  religion  is  this,"  he  says :" that  as 
one  reconciled  to  God  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  I  suffer 
myself  to  be  led  by  the  Spirit  of  Jesus,  through  daily 
dying,  suffering,  and  prayer,  out  of  myself  and  all 
created  things,  that  I  may  live  alone  to  God  in 
Christ;  and  clinging  to  this  my  God  by  faith  and  love, 
I  hope  to  become  one  spirit  with  Him,  and  through  His 
free  mercy  in  Christ  to  attain  eternal  salvation.  And 
I  feel  myself  to  be  of  the  same  faith  with  every  one 
who  believes  thus,  of  whatever  class  or  nation  or 
creed  he  may  be."  Again,  in  the  preface  to  his  poems, 
he  says:  "In  that  sweet  name  of  Jesus,  Immanuel, 
God  with  us,  the  tender  and  overflowing  love  of  God 
has  made  for  itself  a  new  way  into  the  very  depths  of 
our  hearts,  and  has  come  unspeakably  close  to  us  poor 


302  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

fallen  children  of  Adam.  Since  then  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  so  near  at  hand,  nay,  has  come  within  us,  we 
need  make  no  wide  circuit  through  much  knowledge 
and  laborious  effort  to  get  thither  ;  but  we  may  enter 
at  once  by  this  new,  open,  and  living  Way  into  the 
sanctuary  of  inward  and  eternal  communion  with 
God.  We  have  but  to  let  this  deep,  mysterious,  in- 
timate Divine  Love  lead  us  out  from  the  cheating 
pleasures  of  this  world  and  the  tormenting  life  of 
egotism ;  and  for  this  end  to  give  our  heart  and 
will  captive  to  this  inward  Love,  that  it  may  become 
our  All  in  all,  and  guide  us  of  its  free  pleasure.  Behold 
this  is  the  whole  kernel  of  the  matter." 

Many  of  Tersteegen's  hymns  have  already  been 
rendered  into  English,  and  two  of  them,  translated  by 
Wesley,  are  to  be  found  in  nearly  all  our  hymn-books. 
These  are,  "  Lo,  God  is  here,  let  us  adore,"  and  "  Thou 
hidden  Love  of  God."  The  following  little  poems 
are  taken  from  the  first  part  of  "  The  Flower 
Garden." 


THE  MOTE  IN  THE  SUNBEAM. 

I  lose  me  in  the  thought ! 
How  great  is  God, — and  I  how  merely  nought ! 
What  doth  that  Sun  whence  clearest  splendours  stream 
Know  of  the  mote  that  dances  in  his  beam  ? 

Nay,  if  I  may  but  ever  live  and  move 

In  the  One  Being  who  is  perfect  Love, 

Th'  Eternal  and  the  Infinite  alone. 
Let  me  forget  all  else,  and  all  I  deemed  my  own ! 

Closer  than  my  own  self  art  Thou  to  me, 

So  let  me  wholly  yield  myself  to  Thee ; 


GERHARD  TERSTEEGEN.  303 

Be  Thou  my  Sun,  my  selfishness  destroy, 
Thy  atmosphere  of  Love  be  all  my  joy, 
Thy  Presence  be  my  Sunshine  ever  bright, 
My  soul  the  little  mote  that  lives  but  in  Thy  light ! 


WITHIN  AND  WITHOUT. 

Out !  out,  away ! 
Soul,  in  this  alien  house  thou  hast  no  stay ! 
Seek  thou  thy  dwelling  in  Eternity, 

'Tis  there  shall  be 

Thy  hiding-place,  thy  nest, 
Where  nor  the  world  nor  self  can  break  thy  rest 

Within  the  heart  of  God, 

There  is  thy  still  abode. 
There  mayst  thou  dwell  at  rest  and  be  at  home, 
Howe'er  the  body  here  may  toil  and  roam. 


Within  !  within,  O  turn 

Thy  spirit's  eyes,  and  learn 
Thy  wand'ring  senses  gently  to  control ; 
Thy  dearest  Friend  dwells  deep  within  thy  soul. 

And  asks  thyself  of  thee, 
That  heart,  and  mind,  and  sense  He  may  make  whole 

In  perfect  harmony. 

Doth  not  thy  inmost  spirit  yield 
And  sink  where  Love  stands  thus  revealed  ? 

Be  still  and  veil  thy  face, 
The  Lord  is  here,  this  is  His  holy  place  ! 
Then  back  to  earth,  and  'mid  its  toil  and  throng 
One  glance  within  will  keep  thee  calm  and  strong ; 
And  when  the  toil  is  o'er,  how  sweet,  O  God,  to  flee 

Within,  to  Thee  ! 


304  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


AT  EVENING. 

Lovely,  shadowy,  soft,  and  still 

Is  the  eventide, 
Ah  !  if  but  my  heart  and  will 

Evermore  might  so  abide  ! 
God,  Thy  presence  can  alone 
Make  this  lovely  calm  my  own. 

THE  CROSS. 

To  praise  the  Cross  while  yet  untried. 
Comes  oft  of  self-conceit  and  pride ; 
But  when  it  presses,  to  embrace 
And  love  it,  only  comes  of  grace. 


Nay  !  not  sore  the  Cross's  weight,  ! 

Save  to  souls  the  Cross  that  hate ;  i 

Souls  that  can  with  love  receive  it,  ,  ^ 

Childlike  to  their  Father  leave  it,  \ 

May  be  still  'mid  all  its  woe,  ^ 

And  a  strange  deep  gladness  know.  j 

Only  Self-love  murmurs  yet,  1 

Only  Sense  and  Nature  fret,  ^ 

They  repine,  for  they  must  perish  \ 

If  the  soul  true  life  will  cherish  ; 

Light  and  dear  the  Cross  shall  prove, 
For  it  is  the  gift  of  Love. 

THE  TIRED  CHILD. 

Ah  God  !   The  world  hath  nought  to  please ; 
One  loses  strength  and  light  and  peace  J 

In  needful  toil  of  sense  and  brain :  , 

Would  I  might  here  with  Thee  remain  ! 


THE  MORAVIANS.  305 

I  am  sated  with  these  things  of  nought, 
Wearied  with  hearing,  sight,  and  thought ; 
O  Mother-Heart,  to  Thee  I  turn. 
Comfort  Thy  child,  for  Thee  I  yearn : 

Thy  love,  most  gentle-innocent ! 
Would  that  each  hour  might  there  be  spent, 
•  That  I  absorbed  in  Thee  might  live. 
And  child-like  to  my  Father  cleave. 

Like  a  parched  field  my  soul  doth  lie 
Pining  beneath  a  sultry  sky  ; 
O  Heavenly  Dew,  O  gentle  Rain, 
Descend  and  bid  it  bloom  again. 

By  far  the    most    important   new   sect   that  was 
founded   at   this   time  was   that   of    the   Moravians. 
Properly  speaking,  indeed,  the  Moravian  Church  is  the 
living  representative  of  that  ancient  Bohemian  Church 
whose  hymns  were  the  delight  of  Luther ;  but  practi- 
cally, its  transplantation  to  German  soil  about  the  year 
1722,  and  its  rapid  growth  under  the  care  of  Count 
Zinzendorf,  constitute  a  new  foundation  of  the  society. 
Zinzendorf  grew  up  in  the  very  bosom  of  Pietism. 
Born  at  Dresden  in  1700  of  a  noble,  wealthy,  and 
religious  family,  he  had  Spener  for  his  godfather,  and 
Franke  for  his  tutor;  while  his  maternal  grandmother, 
the  Baroness  von  Gersdorff,  whose  house  was  his  home 
in  childhood,  was  herself  a  woman  of  strict  piety  and  a 
writer  of  hymns.  From  his  earliest  years  he  had  strong 
religious  impressions  ;  as  a  child  his  favourite  amuse- 
ment was  playing  at  preaching ;  as  a  boy  at  school 
under  Franke,  he   founded   among  his  schoolfellows 
the  "  Order  of  the  Mustard-seed,"  the   members  of 
which  bound  themselves  in  an  especial  manner  to  the 

S.L.  VI.  X 


3o5         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

service  of  Christ,  and  above  all  to  promote  the  con- 
version of  the  heathen.  Some  of  his  non-pietistic 
relatives  insisted  on  his  acquiring  the  accomplish- 
ments proper  to  his  station  in  life,  such  as  dancing, 
fencing,  shooting,  &c.,  and  on  his  being  sent  to  the 
orthodox  university  of  Wittenberg  to  study  law.  He 
complied  with  their  wishes,  though  he  himself  would 
have  much  preferred  studying  theology ;  and  after  his 
university  course  travelled  for  some  years.  Once,  in 
passing  through  Dusseldorf,  he  saw  in  a  gallery  a  pic- 
ture of  the  Saviour  crowned  with  thorns,  over  which 
was  written,  "  All  this  have  I  done  for  thee ;  what 
dost  thou  for  Me  .-'"  These  words  struck  so  deep  into 
his  heart  that  he  never  lost  the  impression ;  "  from 
this  time  I  had  but  one  passion,  and  that  was  He, 
only  He."  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  returned  to 
Saxony,  accepted  office  under  the  government,  married 
and  settled  down  to  the  usual  life  of  men  of  his  order. 
He  was  a  remarkably  handsome  man,  tall,  and  exactly 
of  what  is  termed  aristocratic  bearing  and  manners  ; 
he  was  also  a  ready  speaker,  with  a  clear  ringing  voice 
and  graceful  and  imposing  action.  In  private  he  was 
energetic  and  impetuous,  but  obliging  in  trifles,  and 
full  of  vivacity  and  humour.  Fortunately  for  him  he 
had  found  a  wife  who  entered  heart  and  soul  into  all 
his  plans,  who  travelled  with  him  wherever  he  went, 
and  managed  his  pecuniary  affairs  and  the  details  of 
daily  arrangements  with  a  skill  and  prudence  which 
he  did  not  himself  possess  in  such  matters.  It  was 
just  after  his  marriage  that  he  first  met  with  Christian 
David,  a  carpenter,  thirty  years  of  age,  who  had  been 
born  a  Roman  Catholic  in  Moravia ;  but  reading  by 
chance  an  evangelical  book,  had  been  converted  and 
joined  the  Moravian  Brethren.     Since  that  time  he 


ZINZENDORF.  307 


had  travelled  in  Hungary  and  Silesia,  working  at  his 
trade ;  and  observing  how  much  peace  and  profitable 
instruction  other  evangelical  Christians  enjoyed,  he 
had  determined  to  urge  his  fellow-believers  to  emigrate 
into  Protestant  Germany.  Just  at  this  time  he  fell  in 
with  Count  Zinzendorf  and  told  him  his  v/ishes,  and 
the  Count  immediately  offered  an  asylum  on  one  of 
his  own  estates  near  Dresden.  Here  in  1722  David 
felled  the  first  tree  and  began  to  build  the  first  house 
of  what  was  afterwards  the  great  Moravian  settlement 
of  Herrnhut.  It  increased  rapidly ;  for  not  only  did  a 
number  of  emigrants  come  thither  from  Moravia,  but 
many  other  persons  were  attracted  to  it,  and  in  1727 
Zinzendorf  resigned  his  ofiice  and  went  to  live  there 
himself,  in  order  to  superintend  the  growing  community. 
After  a  time  he  saw  that  it  would  be  necessary  for 
him  to  take  orders — an  unheard-of  thing  then  in  a 
man  of  his  rank — and  he  was  entreated  to  do  so  by 
his  friend  Spangenberg,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  new 
body.  He  accordingly  travelled  incognito  to  Stralsund, 
passed  the  necessary  examinations,  and  received  ordi- 
nation there.  It  was  on  his  journey  home  that  he 
learnt  that  his  opponents,  who  viewed  with  extreme 
disgust  the  progress  of  the  Brethren,  had  procured 
from  the  king  an  edict  banishing  him  from  Saxony 
on  a  charge  of  spreading  false  doctrine.  It  was  ten 
years  before  he  could  return  home,  an  interval  em- 
ployed by  him  in  incessant  journeyings  and  preachings, 
from  St.  Petersburg  to  the  West  Indies.  He  was 
twice  in  America,  and  founded  various  missions  there, 
especially  among  the  then  wholly  neglected  negro 
slaves  ;  and  he  planted  settlements  of  the  Brethren  in 
other  parts  of  Germany,  in  Holland,  and  in  England. 
From    1747,  when  the   edict  was   recalled,  he   made 

X  2 


3o8  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


Herrnhut  his  head-quarters,  but  he  once  spent  nearly 
four  years  in  England  organizing  his  communities  here, 
and  he  obtained  for  them  the  recognition  of  Parlia- 
ment. His  private  life  was  not  without  its  trials  ;  he 
devoted  the  whole  of  his  large  fortune  to  the  service 
of  the  cause,  and  himself  died  poor ;  he  lost  all  his 
sons,  and  finally  his  excellent  wife  ;  but  his  courage 
never  abated.  He  died  in  1760,  and  by  that  time  the 
United  Brethren  had  not  only  spread  within  Europe, 
but  had  developed  that  remarkable  missionary  activity 
by  which  they  have  always  been  honourably  distin- 
guished, and  the  little  Church  had  already  its  stations 
in  Greenland,  Lapland,  Guinea,  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  Persia,  and  various  parts  of  America. 

In  presence  of  a  life  of  such  self-devotion,  achieving 
such  results,  we  must  acknowledge  Zinzendorf  to  have 
been  a  noble  apostle  of  the  Lord  ;  but  it  is  also  true 
that  he  had,  as  he  himself  says,  "  a  genius  inclined  to 
extravagances^"  and  that  these  sometimes  hindered  his 
usefulness.  His  watchword  was,  "  Christ  and  Him 
Crucified,"  but  he  carried  this  so  far  that  he  saw 
literally  nothing  else  in  Christianity  but  the  one  fact 
of  the  atoning  sufferings  of  the  Saviour.  The  life  of 
Christ,  the  fatherhood  of  God,  the  morality  of  the 
Gospel,  were  all  obscured  to  him  behind  this  one 
central  doctrine ;  nay,  he  allowed  himself  to  speak  of 
them  in  a  way  that  is  most  jarring,  and  that  drew  down 
on  him  severe  censure  from  so  warmly  religious  a  man 
as  Bengel.  But  it  is  to  his  credit  that  he  profited  by 
Bengel's  attack,  and  modified  his  most  extreme  views, 
and  the  formal  dogmatic  expression  of  the  Brethren's 
faith  was  left  by  him  to  his  calmer  and  more  sagacious 
friend  Spangenberg.  On  hymnology  the  Moravians 
have  had  a  powerful  influence ;  Zinzendorf  himself. 


ZINZENDORF.  309 


all  the  members  of  his  family,  and  most  of  the  early 
leaders  of  the  Brethren  wrote  hymns  ;  singing  was  a 
prominent  part  of  their  worship,  and  they  early  began 
publishing  hymn-books.  These  contained  some  of 
the  old  classical  hym.ns,  much  abridged  and  altered 
to  meet  the  taste  of  the  new  Church,  and  a  large  pro- 
portion of  what  are  called  "  Brethren-hymns."  The 
characteristics  of  the  latter  are  a  fervid  affection  and 
gratitude  to  the  Saviour,  a  spirit  of  happy,  childlike 
confidence,  and  a  strong  sentiment  of  Christian  fellow- 
ship ;  but  in  many  cases  their  poetical  merit  is  not  great, 
and  they  sometimes  degenerate  into  a  mere  dwelling 
on  physical  sufferings,  and  a  childish  and  extravagant 
style  of  expression.  This  was  especially  the  case  with 
many  of  the  older  hymns,  which  were  afterwards  re- 
jected from  their  later  collections  ;  some  by  Zinzendorf 
himself  were  among  the  worst  offenders.^  His  hymns, 
of  which  he  wrote  more  than  two  thousand,  are  of 
exceedingly  different  value ;  some  are  fantastic  and 
irreverent,  some  mere  rhymed  prose,  others  again 
have  a  real  sweetness,  fervour,  and  song  in  them. 
Among  the  be.st  are  the  following ;  the  first  is  taught 
in  almost  every  religious  German  household  to  its 
children  : — 

FOLLOWING  CHRIST. 

Jesu,  day  by  day 

Lead  us  on  life's  way  : 
Nought  of  dangers  will  we  reckon, 
Simply  haste  where  Thou  dost  beckon  ; 

I^ad  us  by  the  hand 

To  our  fatherland. 

1  Many  of  these  hymns  speak  of  the  blood  and  wounds  of  Jesus,  o 
making  a  bed  in  His  wounded  side,  &c.  in  a  way  of  which  it  is  rea 
impossible  to  give  instances. 


310  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Hard  should  seem  our  lot, 

Let  us  waver  not : 
Never  murmur  at  our  crosses 
In  dark  days  of  grief  and  losses  ; 

'Tis  through  trial  here 

We  must  reach  Thy  sphere. 

When  the  heart  must  know 

Pain  for  others'  woe, 
When  beneath  its  own  'tis  sinking, 
Give  us  patience,  hope  unshrinking, 

Fix  our  eyes,  O  Friend, 

On  our  journey's  end. 

Thus  our  path  shall  be 

Daily  traced  by  Thee  ; 
Draw  Thou  nearer  when  'tis  rougher. 
Help  us  most  when  most  we  suffer. 

And  when  all  is  o'er 

Ope  to  us  Thy  door. 

THE  KING'S  FAVOURITES. 

Such  the  King  will  stoop  to  and  embrace, 
Who  when  they  no  hope  or  path  can  trace, 

Sink  at  His  feet, 
And  grace  and  guidance  from  His  hand  entreat. 

Such  the  King  with  blessing  will  secure, 
Who  when  they  behold  one  scorned  and  poor. 

Who  is  Christ's  own, 
Revere  him  more  than  princes  on  a  throne. 

Such  the  King  will  evermore  defend, 
Who  accept  the  burden  He  doth  send. 

And  calmly  sit. 
Trusting  to  Him  to  raise  it  when  'tis  fit. 


ALBERTINI.  311 


Such  the  King  will  ever  deign  to  teach, 
Who  can  profit  e'en  by  children's  speech, 

And  gladly  know 
That  they  are  only  learners  here  below. 

Of  the  Moravian  hymn-writers,  the  best  are  Louisa 
von  Hayn,  a  convert  of  Zinzendorf's,  and  for  many 
years  the  superintendent  of  the  Unmarried  Sisters' 
House  at  Herrnhut ;  Christian  Gregor,  the  next  bishop 
of  the  Church  after  Spangenberg,  who  wrote  that 
touching  hymn,  "  Ah,  dearest  Lord  !  to  feel  that  Thou 
art  near ; "  Albertini,  his  successor  in  the  episcopal 
office,  who  died  in  1831;  and  Garve,  who  died  in  1842. 
Of  these  Albertini  ranks  the  highest  as  a  poet  ;  he  was 
a  man  of  great  and  varied  learning,  and  a  friend  of 
Schleiermacher's,  who  asked  to  have  Albertini's  hymns 
read  to  him  on  his  death-bed.     We  give  one : — 

THE  VIRGIN'S  LAMP. 

Lamp  within  me  !  brightly  bum  and  glow, 

Draw  thy  flame  from  Jesu's  heart, 
Whence  a  Hving  fire  doth  ever  flow, 

Clearer  flaming  'mid  the  sorest  smart ; 
I  will  guard  thy  flame  in  stillness  meek, 
Nought  so  eagerly  shall  bid  me  seek 

Him  who  can  my  wants  supply, 

As  the  fear  thy  light  should  die. 

He  will  quench  it  not,  but  haste  to  pour 

Oil  from  His  exhaustless  cruse  ; 
Then  the  soul  is  filled  with  light  once  more 

And  the  twilight's  terrors  she  doth  lose; 
Safe  she  walks  on  her  illumined  way 
Through  the  midnight,  till  the  Voice  shall  say, 


312         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

"  Lo  !  the  Bridegroom  and  the  feast  are  near; 
Virgins,  haste  to  meet  Him,  He  is  here." 

Well  for  those  who  in  His  strength  have  lived, 

Pure  as  He  is  pure  within ; 
Who  with  deep  abhorrence  aye  have  grieved 

O'er  the  slightest  taint  of  sin, 
Hearts  that  trembled  at  the  smallest  spot, 
And  till  cleansed  and  pardoned,  rested  not ; 

Theirs  the  light  that  hath  no  shade, 

Theirs  the  wreath  that  cannot  fade. 

Pietism  in  its  original  shape  had  done  its  work.  Its 
defects  had  become  much  more  apparent  in  the  second 
and  third  generation  than  they  were  at  first ;  its 
tendency  to  fix  the  attention  of  the  Christian  within, 
on  his  own  states  of  feeling  and  chances  of  salvation, 
produced  in  some  cases,  when  Pietism  had  become 
fashionable  and  profitable,  a  hypocritical  simulation 
of  such  feelings  ;  in  others  a  timid  anxious  tone  of 
mind,  inclined  to  morbid  self-scrutiny  and  religious 
melancholy.  Its  discouragement  of  many  legitimate 
forms  of  occupation  as  well  as  of  recreation,  which  it 
stigmatized  as  worldly,  incapacitated  it  from  keeping 
abreast  of  the  new  tide  of  intellectual  activity  which 
rolled  through  Germany  towards  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century  ;  it  had  no  place  in  its  scheme  of 
life  for  the  new  learning,  and  art,  and  science.  And 
for  a  time  it  seemed  swept  aside,  but  it  had  in  it  a 
germ  of  true  and  deep  spiritual  life,  and  this  never 
died  out  J  it  was  handed  down  through  a  Lavater,  a 
Claudius,  a  Jung  Stilling,  an  Arndt,  a  Falk,  till  in  our 
own  days  it  is  blossoming  again  in  vast  works  of 
Christian  charity,  which  can  spring  only  from  a  life 
rooted  through  Christ  in  God. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

MODERN   TIMES. 
1750—1850. 

The  religious  poetry  of  Germany  underwent  a  change 
in  the  course  of  this  eighteenth  century  ;  it  ceased 
to  consist  primarily  of  congregational  hymns,  and 
assumed  the  forms  of  the  irregular  lyric,  the  ode,  and 
the  epic.  We  have  seen  something  of  this  change  in 
the  poems  of  Tersteegen  and  Arnold  ;  it  meets  us 
more  strongly  in  those  of  Gellert,  Cramer,  and  Klop- 
stock.  The  spirit  of  that  age  was  not  favour- 
able to  hymn-writing  ;  for  really  good  hymns  must 
have  in  them  something  of  the  nature  of  the  po- 
pular song ;  they  must  have  its  warmth,  move- 
ment and  melody ;  they  must  spring  from  a  cordial, 
unquestioning  faith,  which  has  no  misgivings  about 
the  response  it  will  evoke  from  other  hearts. 
The  critical  doubting  religion  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, which  even  in  its  more  earnest  forms  felt  itself 
continually  obliged  to  stand  on  the  defensive,  could 
not  produce  such  hymns  ;  nor  could  its  stiff  and  arti- 
ficial style  furnish  them  with  a  fitting  expression. 
The  poetical  diction  of  this  time  is  indeed  remarkably 
deficient  in  variety  of  rhythm  and  in  musical  flow ; 
the  traditional  forms  of  metre  and  rhyme  itself  were 


314         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERM  A  N  V. 

despised,  and  great  efforts  were  made  to  introduce 
new  measures,  of  which  but  one,  the  hexameter,  took 
any  root.  But  the  old  mastery  over  lyrical  forms 
which  distinguished  German  poetry  in  the  days  of  its 
Minne-singers,  the  ringing  melody  which  marked  its 
popular  songs,  were  quite  lost ;  and  we  meet  with 
nothing  like  them  till  we  reach  the  days  of  Goethe. 
Even  the  classical  hymns,  though  consecrated  by  asso- 
ciation, could  no  longer  satisfy  the  more  pedantic  taste 
of  the  age,  and  there  sprang  up  a  perfect  mania  for 
altering  them,  and  for  making  new  collections  of  such 
modernised  versions  for  the  various  States.  These 
alterations  generally  consisted  in  watering  down  the 
old  vigour, — substituting  "virtue"  for  "holiness"  or 
"faith,"  "the  Supreme  Being"  for  "our  faithful  God," 
and  so  on  ; — and  in  planing  away  little  unevennesses 
of  metre  so  as  to  reduce  hymns  and  tunes  alike  to 
a  correct  and  tiresome  flatness.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  State  hymn-books  still  in  use  date  from 
this  period. 

The  one  great  step  that  was  made  in  German 
hymnology  at  this  time  was  the  official  introduction 
of  vernacular  hymns  into  the  Roman  Catholic  churches 
of  Southern  Germany  and  Austria.  Many  collections 
of  hymns  had  already  been  made  for  private  use ; 
but  now  under  the  Emperor  Joseph  II.  portions  of 
the  service  of  the  mass  itself  were  translated  into 
German  verse,  and  sung  by  the  people  while  the 
priest  was  officiating  ;  and  even  where  the  "  Vienna 
Mass,"  as  it  was  called,  was  not  used,  hymns  in  the 
mother-tongue  were  assigned  to  the  various  services 
and  festivals.  The  collections  of  hymns  thus  called 
into  existence  contain  naturally  a  large  proportion  of 


ROMAN  CA  THOLIC  H  YMNS.  3 1 5 

translations  from  the  Latin ;  they  also  possess  a 
smaller  number  of  original  compositions,  of  which 
some  have  great  sweetness  and  devotional  feeling, 
while  others  are  weak  and  overwrought ;  and  they 
include  a  good  many  of  the  Evangelical  hymns, 
modified  where  necessary  to  suit  their  new  position. 

The  antagonism  between  the  Roman  Catholic  and 
Protestant  Churches  which  had  been  so  fierce  during 
the  previous  age,  and  which  in  another  form  has  re- 
vived in  our  own,  had  in  fact  almost  died  out.  The 
difference  was  regarded  as  one  rather  of  birth  and 
geographical  position  than  of  conviction  ;  conversions 
from  one  Church  to  the  other  were  generally 
censured  as  acts  of  disloyalty,  but  mixed  marriages 
were  common  ;  while  really  serious  Christians  in 
either  communion  felt  themselves  strongly  drawn 
together  by  the  possession  of  a  common  faith  in 
a  time  of  scepticism.  Thus  a  cordial  and  intimate 
correspondence  on  religious  subjects  was  main- 
tained between  a  circle  of  pious  Protestants  in  Ham- 
burg, of  which  Claudius  and  the  Stolbergs  were 
members,  and  similar  circles  on  the  Rhine  and 
in  Bavaria,  which  were  composed  of  distinguished 
Roman  Catholics,  such  as  the  Prince-Primate  Dalberg 
the  Princess  Galitzin,  and  others.  During  the  latter 
half  of  this  century,  Southern  Germany  possessed 
several  Roman  Catholics  of  high  position  and  great 
abilities,  who  were  also  men  of  deep  evangelical  piety 
and  strong  national  feeling,  anxious  to  reform  abuses 
within  their  own  Church.  Such  men  were  Sailer,  long 
a  professor  at  Dillingen  and  Landshut  and  finally 
Bishop  of  Ratisbon,  his  great  friend  Feneberg,  pastor 
of  Seeg  in  Bavaria,  and  Von  Wessenbcrg,  the  friend 


3i6  CHRISTIAJ^  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


and  coadjutor  of  Dalberg,  and  his  successor  in  the 
bishopric  of  Constance.  All  three  wrote  hymns, 
which,  if  not  of  the  first  order,  are  yet  good,  earnest, 
and  thoughtful ;  and  all  warmly  promoted  the  use  of 
such  hymns  in  their  own  language  among  the  people, 
both  at  home  and  in  public  worship. 

Among  the  writers  whose  hymns  were  thus  used 
by  both  Churches  was  Christian  Fiirchtegott  Gellert, 
the  immense  popularity  of  whose  writings  in  their  own 
age  shows  how  exactly  they  must  have  fulfilled  its  re- 
quirements. His  life  was  uneventful  enough.  Born  in 
171 5  in  Saxony,  the  son  of  a  country  clergyman,  he 
studied  at  the  university  of  Leipsic,  became  a  private 
tutor,  and  afterwards  professor  of  poetry  and  moral 
philosophy  there ;  and  never  left  the  city  except  for 
occasional  visits  to  the  baths  and  once  to  Berlin,  until 
his  death  in  1769,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four.  In  1742, 
when  he  was  a  young  man  of  seven-and-twenty,  he 
joined  with  a  number  of  his  friends  in  bringing  out  a 
periodical  called  the  "  Contributions  from  Bremen" 
{Bremer  Beitrage)  which  created  a  great  sensation 
as  being  the  first  successful  rebellion  against  the 
domination  of  Gottsched  and  the  French  school. 
Most  of  the  men  engaged  in  it  were  of  some  note 
in  their  day,  but  only  two  or  three  are  now  re- 
membered, and  among  these  Klopstock  towers  far 
above  the  rest.  Gellert's  contributions  consisted  of 
fables  told  with  a  spirit  and  fluency  which  made  their 
humour  and  point  all  the  more  penetrating.  He 
also  wrote  comedies,  and  his  lectures  at  the  university 
were  famed  for  their  charm  of  style  and  manner  no  less 
than  for  their  clearness  of  thought  and  moral  influence. 
Yet  his  Hfe  was  not  a  joyous  one:  he  suffered  inces- 


GELLERT.  317 

santly  from  ill  health  and  from  attacks  of  hypochon- 
dria that  was  held  in  check  only  by  his  real  piety  and 
excellence  of  conduct.  For  Gellert  was  a  deeply 
religious  man,  though  rather  of  the  old  orthodox  than 
of  the  pietistic  type  ;  he  was  a  most  regular  attendant 
on  religious  services,  and  a  great  reader  of  devotional 
works.  In  1757  he  published  a  volume  of  fifty-four 
poems  under  the  title  of  "  Spiritual  Odes  and  Songs," 
which  were  received  with  an  enthusiasm  almost  like 
that  which  greeted  Luther's  hymns  on  their  first 
appearance.  His  lectures  also,  and  his  habit  of 
interesting  himself  warmly  in  the  personal  conduct 
and  welfare  of  his  students,  gave  him  a  remark- 
able influence  over  young  men,  who  afterwards  carried 
the  impression  received  in  his  class-room  into  every 
part  of  Germany.  Lessing  and  Goethe  were  each  in 
turn  among  his  pupils,  but  his  tendency  to  melancholy 
and  sentimentality,  and  his  somewhat  formal  and 
precise  genius,  were  to  them  very  uncongenial.  Yet 
Goethe,  much  the  more  kindly  critic  of  the  two,  says : 
"  The  reverence  and  affection  which  Gellert  received 
from  all  the  young  men  was  extraordinary.  His  lec- 
ture-room was  always  crowded  to  the  utmost ;  and 
Gellert 's  beautiful  soul,  purity  of  will,  his  admonitions, 
warnings  and  entreaties,  delivered  in  a  somewhat 
hollow  and  sad  voice,  produced  a  deep  impression. 
A  figure  not  tall,  but  slender  without  being  thin,  soft 
rather  mournful  eyes,  a  very  beautiful  brow,  all  ren- 
dered his  presence  agreeable."  Nor  was  his  influence 
confined  to  his  class-room  :  a  peasant  one  day  laid  a 
load  of  firewood  at  his  door  as  a  thank-offering  for 
the  pleasure  derived  from  his  fables  ;  a  young  Prussian 
oflficer  sent  him  a  sum  of  money,  entreating  him  to 


31 8  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


accept  the  gift  from  one  whose  heart  had  been  raised 
by  his  writings  ;  and  these  were  but  instances  of  innu- 
merable similar  presents  which  Gellert  used  generally 
to  bestow  on  the  poor.  Princes  and  great  people  of  all 
kinds  made  pilgrimages  to  see  him ;  even  Frederick 
the  Great  had  an  interview  with  him,  and  pronounced 
him  the  most  reasonable  German  professor  he  had  ever 
come  across.  The  general  tone  of  his  writings  is  that 
of  a  sincere  Christian  morality,  kindly  and  a  little 
formal,  not  very  elevated  or  enthusiastic,  but  pure  and 
honest,  and  coloured  by  a  rather  sentimental  and 
pathetic  view  of  life  in  general.  His  hymns,  for  the 
composition  of  which  he  always  prepared  himself  by 
prayer,  are  correct  and  moderate,  yet  with  a  certain 
earnestness  and  pathos ;  and  though  it  is  now  the 
fashion  to  depreciate  them  as  much  as  they  were 
once  admired,  there  is  a  merit  not  to  be  ignored  in 
their  rational  piety  and  quiet  good  taste. 

THE  SOLACE  OF  THE  LIFE  TO  COME. 

When  these  brief  trial-days  are  spent, 

There  dawns  a  glad  eternity ; 
There,  lost  in  measureless  content, 

Our  tears  and  sorrows  cease  to  be ; 
Here  Virtue  toils  with  earnest  care. 
Her  glorious  crown  awaits  her  there. 

True  that  the  godly  man  may  know 
Some  happy  moments  e'en  on  earth ; 

But  joy  is  transient  here  below, 
Imperfect  all  and  little  worth ; 

He  is  a  man,  and  in  his  breast 

Peace  will  but  ebb  and  flow  at  best ; 


GELLERT.  319 

Now  marred  by  sickness  or  by  pain, 
Now  by  the  world's  incessant  noise, 

Now  by  the  foes  that  yet  remain 

Within  him,  whom  no  care  destroys ; 

Now  others  from  without  impose 

The  burden  of  their  faults  and  woes. 

For  here,  where  virtue  oft  is  sad, 
And  vice  as  oft  in  splendour  shines, 

Where  envy  still  pursues  the  glad. 
And  sorrow  in  oblivion  pines, 

Here  man  can  nevermore  be  free 

From  grief,  nor  from  infirmity. 

Here  I  must  seek,  there  I  shall  find ; 

For  there  shall  Virtue  all  unfold 
Before  my  holier  purer  mind 

Her  worth  so  great,  so  manifold ; 
The  God  of  Love,  whom  I  adore, 
I  there  shall  worship  more  and  more. 

There  shall  His  wise,  foreseeing  will 

Be  all  my  joy,  my  choice  alone  ; 
And  loveliness  and  rapture  fill 

My  happy  soul  before  His  throne ; 
While  ever-new  delights  are  given. 
To  bid  me  feel  that  this  is  heaven. 

There  in  that  light  shall  I  discern 

What  here  on  earth  I  dimly  saw. 
Those  deep  and  wondrous  counsels  learn 

Whose  mystery  filled  me  here  with  awe ; 
There  trace  with  gratitude  intense 
The  hidden  links  of  Providence. 


320         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 


There  at  the  footstool  of  my  King,  \^ 

Where  glimpses  of  His  Face  I  gain,  \ 

Shall  I  the  "  Holy,  Holy,"  sing,  .] 
Unto  the  Lamb  that  once  was  slain, 

While  Cherubim  and  Seraphim  ,    ', 

And  all  the  heavens  are  praising  Him.  \ 

i 

Amid  the  holy  angels  placed,  \ 
Like  them  in  holy  happy  mood,                                   .  "i 

Shall  I  the  unmixed  pleasure  taste  { 

Of  godly  converse  with  the  good,  \ 

When  each  the  other's  rapture  shares,  ) 

Their  joy  is  mine,  my  gladness  theirs.  i 

And  there  shall  I  at  last  repay  ' 

With  million  blessings  on  his  head,  •; 

The  guide  who  taught  me  first  God's  way  '\ 
And  bade  me  boldly  in  it  tread ; 

There  shall  I  find  the  friend  once  more 

I  found  and  treasured  here  of  yore.  ] 

Perchance, — ah  would  that  this  might  be  ! — 

Will  some  blest  soul  in  that  abode  ;■ 

Cry,  "  Hail !  for  thou  hast  rescued  me  , 
And  won  my  heart  to  heaven  and  God !" 

O  God,  what  exquisite  delight  -■ 

To  save  a  soul  from  sin  and  night !  .  ■ 

Then  what  are  ye,  brief  woes  of  Time,  ; 

When  weighed  with  glory  such  as  this, 

Destined  to  be  our  lot  sublime  ; 

From  age  to  age  of  endless  bliss  ?  ^ 

How  nought,  how  merely  nought  appears  2 

This  moment  full  of  cares  and  fears  !  ^\ 

Another  favourite  religious  poet  of  this  time  was  \ 
Johann  Andreas  Cramer,  who  was  a  friend  of  both         " 


CRAMER.  321 

Gellert  and  Klopstock.     He  was  a  man  of  high  cha- 
racter and  considerable  abiHty,  who  was  considered 
in  his  day  to  be  the  greatest  pulpit  orator  in  Germany; 
for  many  years  he  was  court-preacher  at  Copenhagen 
when  Count  Bernstorff  was  in  power,  and  he  died  as 
chancellor  of  the  university  of  Kiel  in   1788  at  the 
age   of  sixty-five.      As   a   poet  he  does  not  hold  a 
very  high  place  ;  his  poems  resemble  those  of  Gellert, 
but  have  less  sweetness  and  feeling,  and  are  more 
definitely  didactic ;   they  are,  however,  characteristic 
as  embodying  one  type  of  the  religion  of  this  period, 
a  type  strongly  contrasting  with  that  of  Zinzendorf, 
somewhat    frigid   and    Deistic   rather  than  Christian 
in    its    aspect,    yet   retaining   a   sincere    attachment 
to  Christianity  and  accepting  it  as  an  authoritative 
revelation    from    God.       Cramer's    favourite    themes 
are   the    wisdom   and   goodness    of    God   in   nature 
and  providence ;   the   immortality  of  the   soul, — not 
heaven,  for  he  does   not  picture   the   future   life  to 
himself,  but  brings  forward  very  good  arguments  for 
a  belief  in  its  existence;  and  the  inculcation  of  specific 
Christian  duties,  such  as  cheerfulness,  purity,  useful- 
ness, &c.,  in  poems  which  at  least  have  the  merit  of 
very   good   sense   and    sound    morality.      From   the 
latter  we  choose  the  following  poem  on 

THE  DUTY  OF  THE  SCHOLAR. 

O  ye,  who  from  your  earliest  youth 
Seek  wisdom  and  would  learn  tlie  truth, 
Happy  are  ye  if  ye  discern 
Falsehood  from  Truth  in  all  ye  learn  ! 

If  ye  with  bold  and  eager  mind 
Cast  prejudice  and  fear  behind, 

S.L.  VL  Y 


322          CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY.  ■[ 

That  so  the  Truth  may  set  you  free 

From  dreams  and  Error's  slavery  !  1 

If  to  your  comprehensive  thought,  ; 
The  lore  that  ancient  sages  taught 

Is  but  the  stepping-stone  to  more  ^ 

And  deeper  truths  unknown  before  I  j 

Nor  suffer  fame  to  be  your  goal,  «         i 

Still  less  to  break  the  wise  control  " 
Of  law  and  duty ;  seek  aright 

To  grow  more  perfect  through  more  light  1 

Whoe'er  on  God's  great  works  can  cast  ^ 

A  clearer  light  than  in  the  past,  •! 

And  teach  new  eyes  with  awe  to  see  J 

Their  wonders, — ah,  how  happy  he  !  'i 

Learn  ever  clearer  what  adorns, 

Ennobles  life,  and  blunts  its  thorns  ;  ' 

What  in  each  nation,  every  State, 

Has  brought  it  low  or  made  it  great.  ^ 

Learn  too  what  shames  us,  what  is  base,  ^ 

Virtue's  whole  worth  and  beauty  trace,  | 

Here  and  hereafter  what  the  source  : 

Of  joys  that  cannot  brmg  remorse,  \ 

And  never  deign  to  make  for  Vice  1 

A  league  with  Error,  or  with  lies ;  •! 
Nor  speak  of  Truth  with  careless  scorn. 
For  every  truth  of  God  is  born. 

Whate'er  ye  learn,  rejoice  to  share  \ 

With  others,  show  them  every  snare                     '  ' 

On  learning's  path  where  men  have  tript,  \ 

Be  honest  where  yourselves  have  slipt.  ; 


KLOPSTOCK 


KLOPSTOCK.  323 


Forget  not  ye  must  live  for  aye, 
Study  not  only  for  to-day, 
Think  of  the  reckoning  ye  must  give. 
And  wisely,  virtuously  live. 

All  truth  is  God's  as  He  is  true, 
Whate'er  ye  know  He  shows  it  you, 
So  let  your  knowledge  as  it  grows 
Draw  you  to  Him  more  near  and  close. 

Happy  indeed  is  such  a  sage, 
He  shall  be  honoured  in  his  age. 
And  fame  shall  follow  where  he  trod. 
For  he,  he  is  a  light  from  God. 

Friedrich  Gottlieb  Klopstock  was  born  at  Quedlin- 
burg  in  1724.  His  father  was  an  official  under  the 
Government — a  clever,  upright,  crotchety  man,  given 
to  a  belief  in  ghosts  and  the  devil,  with  whom  he  con- 
sidered himself  to  have  had  many  personal  encounters, 
but  a  man  who  brought  up  his  ten  children  to  be 
honest  and  hardy,  religious  and  patriotic.  Klopstock 
was  educated  at  a  celebrated  school  at  Schulpforta, 
where  he  remained  till  he  was  twenty-one,  and  where 
he  already  conceived  the  idea  of  his  great  epic  the 
"  Messiah."  The  thought  that  France  and  England 
had  so  far  surpassed  Germany  in  literature,  filled  him 
even  as  a  boy  with  indignation,  and  he  solemnly 
resolved  that  he  would  produce  some  great  work 
which  should  do  his  country  honour.  Various  subjects, 
such  as  the  story  of  King  Arthur,  or  of  the  early 
German  hero,  Henry  the  Fowler,  floated  before  his 
mind,  but  at  last  it  flashed  on  him  that  the  work  of 
Redemption  was  the  noblest  subject  on  which  the 
human  pen  could  be  employed.     Not  long  afterwards 

Y   2 


324  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost  "  fell  into  his  hands  ;  he  read 
it  with  rapture,  and  was  more  than  ever  confirmed  in 
his  choice  of  a  theme.     From   Schulpforta  he  went 
to  Leipsic,  where  he  soon  became  intimate  with  the 
set  of  young  men  who  were  bringing  out  the  "  Contri- 
butions from  Bremen."    They  urged  him  to  join  them, 
but  he  declined  from  modesty,  until  one  day  one  of 
his  friends  named  Schmidt  drew  out  of  a  chest  full  of 
linen  a  manuscript,  which  proved  to  be  the  first  three 
cantos  of  the  "Messiah."  Schmidt  instantly  carried  them 
off  to  Cramer ;   the  friends  read  them  with  delight, 
and  insisted   on   publishing  them  in  the   "  Contribu- 
tions "  for  1748.     Several  of  his  odes  also  appeared  in 
the  same  volume,   and  the  young  Klopstock   found 
himself  suddenly  famous  all  over  Germany.     In  1750 
he   was   invited  to    Zurich,  and   was   honoured   and 
caressed   to    the   utmost  in  what  was  then  the  most 
literary  town  in  Switzerland.    Throughout  life  he  was 
a  man  of  singularly  pure  and  amiable  character,  and  at 
this  time  he  had  much  wit  and  liveliness,  with  a  keen 
enjoyment  of  athletic    sports,   especially  of  skating, 
which  from  his  example  and  praises  became  quite  a 
rage  in  Germany  during  the  next  twenty  years.     The 
consciousness  of  the  great  work  in  which  he  was  en- 
gaged gave  him  however,  as  Goethe  tells  us,  a  certain 
dignity   and    self-control   of  manner    which    in    later 
years,  when  the  vivacity  of  youth  was  gone,  increased 
to  a  sort  of  measured  diplomatic  courtliness.     It  was 
about  this  time  that  he  wrote  most  of  his  love  poems 
and  odes,  inspired  by  a  hopeless  passion  for  Fanny, 
the  sister  of  his  friend   Schmidt.     But  ere  long  he 
consoled  himself     It  was  in   175 1  that  Count  Bern- 
storff,  then  prime  minister  to  the  King  of  Denmark, 


KLOPSTOCK.  325 


invited  him  to  reside  at  Copenhagen,  and  offered  him 
a  pension,  which  should  enable  him  to  complete  the 
"  Messiah  "  undisturbed  by  pecuniary  cares.  Klop- 
stock  accepted  it,  and  on  his  way  northwards  made 
the  acquaintance  at  Hamburg-  of  a  certain  Meta 
Moller,  the  daughter  of  a  merchant,  a  clever,  ardent- 
minded  girl,  who  was  a  correspondent  of  Richardson 
and  Young,  and  had  already  conceived  a  great  admira- 
tion for  the  author  of  the  "  Messiah."  A  correspon- 
dence ensued,  which  terminated  in  1754  in  a  marriage. 
Nothing  could  be  happier  than  this  union,  but  it 
lasted  little  more  than  four  years,  when  Meta  died  in 
childbirth.  Her  death  was  a  terrible  blow  to  Klop- 
stock,  and  for  a  time  seems  to  have  diverted  his 
thoughts  altogether  from  his  great  work.  Ten  cantos 
had  already  been  given  to  the  world,  but  during  the 
next  nine  years,  when  Klopstock  was  a  man  between 
thirty  and  forty,  only  minor  poems  appeared,  chiefly 
of  a  religious  character. 

After  Meta's  death  he  lived  in  Count  Bernstorff's 
house,  but  he  was  in  the  habit  of  spending  long 
periods  of  time  among  his  friends  in  or  near  Ham- 
burg ;  and  on  the  retirement  of  Bernstorff  in  1770,  he 
removed  there  altogether,  and  took  up  his  abode  in 
the  house  of  a  Herr  von  Winthcm,  who  had  married 
Meta's  niece.  Hamburg  was  at  this  time  a  sort  of 
literary  capital  of  Germany,  and  more  particularly  of 
its  northern  half,  as  Weimar  became  some  years  later. 
Lessing  and  Klopstock,  then  the  greatest  names  in 
German  literature,  made  it  their  residence  ;  Herder 
visited  it  occasionally  ;  and  a  number  of  lesser  lights, 
such  as  Voss,  Claudius,  Reimarus,  tlic  Stolbergs,  &c. 
gathered    round    the    chief    luminaries.      Klopstock 


J26         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

enjoyed  a  sort  of  reverence  not  unlike  that  paid  to 
Dr.  Johnson  in  England,  but  in  some  respects  more 
flattering,  as  he  was  a  man  of  whom  it  was  much 
easier  to  make  a  popular,  and  especially  a  ladies' 
hero.  Here  the  "  Messiah  "  was  at  last  completed  in 
1773  ;  a  complete  edition  of  his  odes  and  lyrics  was 
brought  out ;  and  here  he  devoted  the  autumn  of 
his  long  life  to  the  study  and  purification  of  the 
German  language  and  its  grammar.  He  had  always 
been  a  passionate  lover  of  his  country,  but  this  did 
not  prevent  him  from  taking  the  keenest  interest  in 
the  American  War  of  Independence  and  the  open- 
ing of  the  French  Revolution.  He  was  among  those 
who,  like  our  own  Wordsworth,  hailed  its  earlier 
years  with  eager  sympathy  and  the  hope  of  a  coming 
brighter  era  for  humanity,  and  who  afterwards  under- 
went the  bitterness  of  profound  disappointment.  The 
National  Assembly  had  marked  their  recognition  of 
his  friendship  for  the  French  people  by  according 
him  the  rights  of  a  French  citizen  ;  but  when  the 
terrible  massacres  of  1793  took  place  he  sent  back 
to  them  his  diploma. 

In  his  sixty-seventh  year  he  married  for  the  second 
time,  choosing  the  Frau  von  Winthem,  who  had 
meanwhile  become  a  widow,  and  who  survived  him. 
He  died  in  1803,  in  his  seventy-ninth  year,  retaining 
all  the  vigour  of  his  faculties  to  the  last,  and  was 
buried  by  Hamburg  with  royal  honours. 

The  "Messiah,"  which  as  we  have  seen  occupied 
twenty-seven  years  in  its  composition,  is  a  poem  in 
twenty  cantos,  written  in  hexameters  except  where 
certain  choral  songs  occur  in  the  unrhymed  lyrical 
measures  employed  by  Klopstock  for  his  odes.     The 


THE  ''MESSIAH:'  yrj 

action  opens  after  the  triumphal  entry  into  Jeru- 
salem, when  the  Messiah  withdraws  from  the  people, 
and  alone  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  renews  His 
solemn  vow  to  the  Almighty  Father  to  undertake  the 
work  of  Redemption  ;  it  closes  when  that  work  is 
completed,  and  He  sits  down  at  the  right  hand  of 
God.  Around  the  central  figure  of  the  God-man  are 
grouped  an  infinite  variety  of  spectators  and  actors : 
angels  and  seraphs,  among  whom  Eloa  and  Gabriel 
are  especially  appointed  to  attend  on  the  Divine  Suf- 
ferer ;  evil  spirits  who  conspire  against  Him,  but  one 
of  whom,  Abbadonna,  repents  and  at  last  obtains 
mercy ;  Adam  and  Eve  and  the  patriarchs,  who  watch 
with  profound  interest  and  gratitude  the  reparation 
of  the  Fall ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  another  world, 
like  in  nature  to  man,  but  unfallen;  who  are  permitted 
to  know  what  is  taking  place  among  their  sinful 
kindred.  Even  the  Father  himself  is  introduced  as' 
speaking,  and  the  scene  is  sometimes  laid  in  the 
highest  heaven.  The  earthly  actors  are  the  mother  and 
disciples  of  Jesus,  the  Jews  and  the  Romans  who  lead 
Him  to  death,  and  a  number  of  those  who  have  come 
in  contact  with  Him  in  His  ministrations,  among  whom 
the  most  clearly  drawn  are  two  female  figures,  both 
named  Cidli :  one,  the  wife  of  Gedor,  is  a  reminiscence 
of  Meta,  and  her  death  is  an  exact  transcript  of 
Meta's  deathbed  ;  the  other  is  the  daughter  of  Jairus, 
between  whom  and  Semida,  the  youth  of  Nain,  there 
exists  a  pure  but  ardent  attachment,  which  at  last  finds 
satisfaction  in  heaven.  The  immense  number  of  per- 
sonages thus  introduced  produces  a  confusing  impres- 
sion ;  everything  is  described  by  one  or  other  of  them, 
and  talked  over  at  length  ;  scarcely  anything  actually 


328         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

takes  place  before  the  reader ;  there  is  an  absence  of 
local  colouring  and  of  character,  and  very  few  of  the 
actors  have  any  distinct  individuality  at  all ;  while  the 
effort  to  keep  the  whole  tone  of  the  poem  at  the  highest 
possible  pitch  of  intensity  and  awe  gives  rise  to  an 
overstrained  inflation  of  both  thought  and  style,  which 
becomes  in  the  long-run  inexpressibly  fatiguing.  Yet 
Klopstock's  poem  has  made  for  itself  and  for  him 
a  place  in  the  literature  of  his  country  which  does 
not  depend  on  the  number  of  readers  it  now  attracts. 
Its  subject  is  linked  by  a  thousand  invisible  fibres  to 
the  whole  Christian  thought  of  centuries  past,  while 
its  spirit  of  mercy,  forgiveness,  and  tolerance,  of 
Redemption  in  a  word,  is  essentially  characteristic 
of  the  later  developments  of  Christianity.  To  treat 
such  a  theme  worthily  at  all — to  embody  it  in  a 
form  which,  however  full  of  defects,  yet  possesses  a 
certain  dignity  and  real  genius — marks  its  author  as 
a  great  poet,  if  not  one  of  the  greatest,  and  gives  him 
a  place  historically  even  higher  perhaps  than  he  has 
a  right  to  command  as  an  artist. 

Klopstock  also  wrote  scriptural  dramas,  which, 
however,  speedily  fell  into  oblivion.  Much  finer  are  his 
odes,  which  indeed  show  the  most  fire  and  originality 
of  any  of  hi§  works ;  though  some  of  these  too  suffer 
from  their  length  and  elaboration.  He  also  recast, 
not  always  very  successfully,  many  of  the  older 
hymns,  and  composed  a  number  of  his  own,  of  which 
a  good  many  are  adopted  into  the  hymn-books, 
though  in  general  their  style  is  too  stilted  and 
declamatory  to  be  genuinely  popular.  As  speci- 
mens we  give  one  of  his  odes,  one  of  his  psalms,  and 
a  hymn :  it  is  impossible  within  a  short  compass  to 


KLOPSTOCK.  329 

give  extracts  from  the  "  Messiah  "  which  could  really 
convey  any  idea  of  the  work. 

THE  VISION  OF  GOD.^ 

Trembling  I  rejoice 
Nor  should  dare  to  believe, 
Were  not  the  Promiser 
God  the  Eternal ! 
For  I  know  it,  I  feel  it, 
I  am  a  sinner  ! 
I  must  know  it,  and  feel  it, 
E'en  had  not  light  from  God 
Streamed  on  my  conscience,  and  shown 
My  soul  to  herself. 
Clearly  unveiling 
Her  form  that  sin  hath  wounded  and  defaced. 

With  low-bended  knee. 
With  deep  adoring  amazement, 
I  rejoice : 

I  shall  behold  Him  ! 

Soul,  ever  drawing  nearer  the  body's  grave, 
Thyself  immortal, 
Pursue  this  all-divinest  thought 
Which  thy  thought  can  conceive. 
Not  that  thou  darest 
To  enter  yet  into  the  holiest  place  I 
^\'ithin  that  sanctuary  dwell 
Joys  unconceived,  unpraised,  unsung  as  yet. 


•  III  this  ode  the  translation  follows  the  original  line  by  line,  imitating; 
as  exactly  as  possible  the  accent  and  number  of  syllables  in  each.  In 
the  psalm  that  follows  it  a  little  more  licence  in  metre  is  taken,  as  the 
uriginal  has  also  a  more  condensed  and  regular  rhythm. 


330         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

Only  from  far  I  hail  one  mild  and  softened  beam, 
Softened  to  let  me  live ; 

One  gleam  that  earthly  darkness  tempers  here, 
Of  glory  I  may  see. 

How  great  the  Prophet  was  who  dared  implore, 
"  If  I  have  found  grace  in  Thy  sight,  now  let  me 
Behold  Thy  glory!" 

So  to  the  Infinite  might  pray,  and  find  a  hearing  ! 
To  the  land  of  Golgotha  came  he  not, 
An  earlier  death  avenged  the  fault 
That  once,  but  once,  his  God  he  trusted  not ; 
How  great  the  Prophet  shows  this  very  doom  ! 
Him  the  Father  concealed  in  a  deep  gloom  of  the  mountain,, 
When  before  a  mortal  passed  the  Glory  of  the  Son  ; 
When  the  trumpet  was  silent  on  Sinai 
And  the  voice  of  the  thunder,  as  God  spake  of  God. 
No  longer  wrapt  in  night. 
But  in  a  daylight's  splendour 
That  needs  no  shadows  to  enhance  its  brightness, 
He  now  beholds,  so  we  believe,  for  ages  already 
Far  o'er  the  limits  of  Time, 
Unconscious  of  moments  that  ever 
Are  followed  by  moments, — he  gazes 
On  Thee,  O  Holy,  Holy,  Holy  Lord  ! 

Most  nameless  delight  of  my  soul. 
Thought  of  the  Vision  to  come, 
Thou  art  my  mighty  Reliance, 

Thou  art  the  Rock,  whereon  I  stand  and  gaze  up  to  heaven, 
When  the  terrors  of  Sin 
And  the  terrors  of  Death 
Fearfully  threaten 
To  whelm  me  below  ! 


KLOPSTOCK.  331 


Upon  this  Rock,  O  Thou 

Whom  now  the  dead  in  God  behold, 

Let  me  stand  when  the  power 

Of  Death  irresistibly  hems  me  around  ! 

Arise,  O  my  soul,  above  this  mortality, 
Look  up  and  gaze,  and  thou  wilt  behold 
The  Father's  Brightness 
Beam  from  the  Face  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Hosanna  !  Hosanna  !  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
Dwells  in  the  Man  Jesus  Christ ! 
Scarce  ringeth  the  Cherubims'  harp  here,  it  quivers. 
Scarce  sound  on  their  voices,  they  tremble,  they  tremble  ! 
Hosanna !  Hosanna ! 
The  Godhead  in  fulness 
Dwells  in  the  Man 
Jesus  Christ. 

Even  then,  when  one  of  the  beams  from  God  to  our  world 
Illumined  more  clearly  the  prophecy,  when  'twas  fulfilled, 
When  He  was  despised  and  afflicted 
As  no  son  of  man  had  been  despised  and  afflicted  before, 
E'en  then,  mortals  could  not  discern. 
But  the  Cherubim  saw 
The  Father's  Brightrtess 
In  the  countenance  of  the  Son. 

I  see,  I  see  him,  that  witness. 
Seven  long  appalling  midnights 
Hath  he  doubted,  and  painfully  wrestled 
With  the  saddest  of  sorrows. 
I  see  him  ! 

To  him  appeareth  the  Risen  One, 
He  layeth  his  hands  in  the  print  of  the  wounds. 
Heaven  and  earth  are  vanishing  round  him  : 


332         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

He  beholds  the  Father's  Brightness  in  the  Face  of  the  Son, 

I  hear,  I  hear  him  !  he  cries 

Heaven  and  earth  are  vanishing  round  him — he  cries  : 
My  Lord  and  my  God ! 

PSALM.i 

Round  their  planets  roll  the  moons, 
Planets  round  their  sun, 
All  the  hosts  of  suns  revolve 
Round  one  mighty  Sun, 
'■        Thee  "  Our  Father,"  Thee  "who  art  in  heaven  !" 

On  all  these  worlds,  light-beaming,  light-receiving. 
Are  dwelling  souls  of  diverse  powers  and  forms. 
But  all  contemplate  God,  rejoice  in  God  : 
"  Hallowed  be  Thy  name  !" 

But  He  the  Highest  who  alone 

Can  wholly  know  Himself, 

Wholly  rejoice  in  God,  'twas  He  conceived 

The  scheme  profound  to  bless  all  creature-minds  : 

"Thy  kingdom  come  !" 

O  well  for  them  that  He,  and  not  themselves, 
Orders  their  Present,  and  their  Future  too ; 
O  well  for  them,  and  well  for  us  !     "  Thy  will 
Be  done  on  earth,  as  'tis  in  heaven,"  O  God ! 

He  lifts  the  ear  upon  its  golden  stalk. 

Matures  the  blushing  apple,  purple  grape  ; 

Pastures  the  lamb  upon  the  field. 

The  wild-deer  in  the  woods  : 

But  His  thunder  roUeth  around. 

And  its  bolts  may  beat  down  the  corn  and  the  bough, 

May  destroy  in  the  fields  and  the  woods  ! 

Then,  "  Give  us  to-day  our  daily  bread  I" 

^  This  psalm  was  sung  at  Kiopstock's  funeral. 


KLOPSTOCK.  333 


Perchance  that  high  above  the  thunder's  course 
Sinners  and  mortals  dwell  like  those  on  earth  ? 
There  too  the  friend  may  change  to  foe  ? 
There  too  the  dearest  part  in  death  ? 
"  Forgive  us,"  Lord,  "  our  debts 
As  we  forgive  our  debtors." 

Various  the  paths  to  one  exalted  goal, 

To  endless  happiness : 

Through  lonely  wastes  there  are  that  wind  their  course, 

Yet  e'en  on  these,  some  joys  beside  the  way 

Will  blossom  and  refresh  the  fainting  soul : 

"  Lead  us  not,"  then,  "  into  temptation,"  Lord, 

"  But  deliver  us  from  evil." 

Thee  we  adore,  who  hath  the  central  Sun 

Compassed  with  suns  and  planets  and  their  moons ; 

Who  didst  create  all  souls  intelligent. 

And  plan  their  blessedness  ; 

Raisest  the  fruitful  ear,  and  dost  command 

Or  stay  the  bolt  of  death : 

Who  leadest  to  the  goal  through  deserts  lone, 

And  cheerest  weary  wanderers  on  their  way  ; 

Thee  we  adore ! 

"  For  Thine  is  the  kingdom,  the  power,  and  the  glory. 

For  ever  and  ever !     Amen  !" 

The   following   hymn   is   very  commonly  used  at 
funerals  or  at  Easter  services : — 

THE  RESURRECTION. 
Rise  again  !  yes,  rise  again  wilt  thou 
My  dust,  though  buried  now  ! 

To  life  immortal 
Is  this  brief  rest  the  portal : 

Hallelujah  ! 


334  CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

For  the  seed  is  sown  again  to  bloom 
Whene'er  the  Lord  shall  come, 

His  harvest  reaping 
In  us  who  now  are  sleeping  : 

Hallelujah  ! 

Day  of  praise,  of  joyful  tears  the  Day, 
Thou  of  my  God  the  Day, 
When  I  shall  number 
My  destined  years  of  slumber, 

Thou  wakenest  me  ! 

Then  shall  we  be  like  to  those  that  dream, 
When  on  us  breaks  the  beam 

Of  that  blest  morrow  ; 
The  weary  pilgrim's  sorrow 

Is  then  no  more. 

Then  the  Saviour  leads  us  of  His  grace 
Into  the  Holiest  Place, 
Where  we  for  ever 
Shall  praise  His  Name  who  doth  deliver ! 
Hallelujah  ! 

With  Klopstock  this  short  survey  of  the  course  of 
German  religious  poetry  must  end.  He  has  brought 
us  within  the  entrance  of  that  modern  revival  of  litera- 
ture which  rendered  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century 
as  remarkable  for  its  brilliancy  as  the  opening  of  it 
had  been  for  its  barrenness.  Germany  had  once  more 
woke  up  to  life  ;  and  perhaps  because  political  and 
practical  life  offered  no  career  to  attract  her  ablest 
minds,  their  energies  were  all  the  more  thrown  into  the 
field  of  thought,  of  literature  and  philosophy,  criticism 
and  research.     To  a  great  extent  this  new  intellectual 


MODERN  HYMNS.  335 

activity  made  for  itself  other  channels  quite  apart 
from  that  peculiarly  Christian  form  of  literature  which 
we  have  been  following ;  yet  not  wholly  so.  Klop- 
stock  marked  the  opening  of  the  new  era  by  the 
greatest  religious  epic  that  Germany  possesses  ;  Herder 
not  only  wrote  religious  poems  of  merit  himself,  but 
did  better  service  by  his  works  on  ancient  national 
poetry,  and  especially  that  of  the  Hebrews,  which 
taught  men  afresh  what  they  ought  to  seek  and  care 
for  in  this  kind  of  literature.  The  writers  of  the 
so-called  Romantic  school,  and  of  the  patriotic  songs 
which  flew  over  Germany  during  the  wars  with 
Napoleon,  furnished  a  few  really  fine  religious  poems 
and  hymns,  such  as  those  of  Novalis,  Ernst  Moritz 
Arndt,  Schenkendorf,  and  Fouque,  whose  name  is  best 
known  to  us  by  his  lovely  little  romance  of  "  Undine." 
Then  followed  a  time  which  produced  very  little  of 
this  kind.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  illustrious 
names — such  as  those  of  Neander,  Rothe,  Bunsen,  or 
Nitzsch — the  two  tendencies  most  easily  recognisable 
in  the  religious  thought  of  Germany  of  later  years 
have  been  an  aggressive  or  a  quietly  contemptuous 
scepticism,  confronted  by  a  narrow  and  arrogant  ortho- 
doxy which  has  allied  itself  to  whatever  was  least 
progressive  in  the  political  world.  But  by  the  side  of 
these  there  has  also  been  an  undergrowth  of  a  genuine 
religious  life  which  has  not  as  yet  asserted  itself  in  the 
field  of  thought,  but  has  shown  itself  almost  exclusively 
in  that  of  active  Christian  charity  and  devotional  feel- 
ing. It  is  to  this  spirit  that  the  country  owes  that 
remarkable  development  of  philanthropic  agencies 
which  find  their  bond  of  common  work  in  the  "  Inner 
Mission,"  and  no  less  the  reform  of  its  hymn-books, 


336         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

and  the  rise  of  a  large  new  school  of  hymn-writers. 
Within  the  last  thirty  years  the  hymnology  of  Ger- 
many, both  before  and   since  the   Reformation,  has 
been  the  subject  of  the  most  careful  research  ;  several 
important  historical  works  on  the  subject  have  been 
written,   and    many  thoroughly  good   collections    of 
hymns  have  been  published ;  while  even  the  authorized 
State  hymn-books  are  by  slow  degrees  sharing  in  the 
improvement.      At  present  the  best  is  that  of  Wur- 
temberg.     The  original  religious  poetry  of  the  present 
day  is  very  considerable  in  quantity,  but  varies  much 
in  character.      Among  the  Roman  Catholic  writers, 
Spee,  with  all  the  defects  no  less  than  the  beauties  of 
his  style,  affords  the  most  frequent  model,  while  the 
most  usual  theme  is  the  praise  of  Mary.     The  Evan- 
gelical authors,  on  the  other  hand,  take  the  earlier 
Lutheran  school  for  their  pattern   in  congregational 
"  church-songs,"  and  if  they  do  not  attain  quite  the 
force  and  condensed  pregnancy  of  the  classical  hymns, 
they  have  at  least  much  sweetness,  earnestness,  and 
simplicity ;  while  their  poems  not  intended  for  con- 
gregational  use   are    often    graceful    and    touching. 
The  best  among  them  are  those  of  Spitta,  Knapp, 
Victor  Strauss,  and  Gerok,  Luise  Hensel  and  Meta 
Haiiszer.     Of  the  recent  lyrical  poets  of  Germany, 
one  of  the   most  distinguished,   Friedrich  Riickert/ 
is   a  religious  as  well  as  a   secular  poet,  and  with 
two  of  his  poems  we  will  wind  up  this  long  series  of 
Christian  singers.      It  began,  a  thousand  years  ago, 
with  the  monk  whose  great  work  was  to  present  the  Life 
of  Christ  to  the  German  people  in  their  own  tongue ; 
it  ends  with  the  modern  lyric  poet  and  scholar  whose 
1  Died  in  1866. 


RUCKERT.  337 

favourite  study  has  been  the  wisdom  of  the  Brahmins 
and  Persians,  and  who  yet  finds  that  all  these  cen- 
turies have  not  exhausted  the  meaning  that  lies  in 
Bethlehem  and  Calvary. 


MIDNIGHT. 

At  dead  of  night 

Sleep  took  her  flight. 
I  gazed  abroad,  no  star  ot  all  the  crowds 
That  people  heaven,  was  smiling  through  the  clouds 

To  cheer  my  sight 

That  dreary  night. 

At  dead  of  night 

I  scaled  the  height 
Of  giddy  question  o'er  our  mortal  lot; 
My  searchings  found  no  answer,  brought  me  not 

One  ray  of  light 

In  that  deep  night. 

At  dead  of  night 

In  still  affright 
I  turned  and  listened  to  my  throbbing  heart ; 
One  pulse  of  pain  alone,  whose  ancient  smart 

Had  dimmed  sweet  light, 

Beat  there  that  night. 

At  dead  of  night 

I  fought  the  fight 
Humanity,  of  all  thy  pain  and  woes ; 
My  strength  could  not  decide  it,  and  my  foes 

O'erwhelmed  me  quite 

At  dead  of  night. 

L   VI.  Z 


338         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

At  dead  of  night 

All  power  and  might 
I  yielded,  Lord  of  life  and  death,  to  Thee, 
And  learnt  Thou  watchedst  with  me,  and  that  we 

Are  in  Thy  sight 

In  deepest  night ! 


BETHLEHEM  AND  CALVARY. 

In  Bethlehem  the  Lord  was  bom 

Whose  birth  has  brought  us  life  and  light, 
On  Calvary  that  death  of  scorn 

He  died,  that  broke  Death's  cruel  might : 
I  wandered  from  a  western  strand 
And  sought  through  many  an  eastern  land, 
Yet  found  I  greater  nought  than  ye, 

0  Bethlehem  and  Calvary  ! 

Ye  wonders  of  the  ancient  world. 

How  hath  your  pomp  been  swept  away, 

And  earthly  strength  to  ruin,  hurled 
By  power  that  knows  not  of  decay  ! 

1  saw  them  scattered  far  and  wide. 
The  ruined  heaps  on  every  side  ; 
But  lowly  glory  still  I  see 
Round  Bethlehem  and  Calvary. 

Ye  Pyramids  are  but  a  tomb 

Wherein  did  toiling  mortals  build 

Death's  utter  darkness ;  'tis  his  gloom, 

Not  peace,  wherewith  your  depths  are  filled. 

Ye  Sphinxes,  to  the  world  of  old 

Could  Life's  enigma  ne'er  unfold ; 

'Tis  solved  for  ages  yet  to  be 

In  Bethlehem  and  Calvary  ! 


RUCKERT.  339 

0  Syria's  earthly  Paradise, 

Fair  Schiraz'  gardens  of  the  rose, 
Ye  palmy  plains  'neath  Indian  skies, 

Ye  shores  where  soft  the  spice-wind  blows, 
Death  stalks  through  all  that  looks  so  fair, 

1  trace  his  shadow  everywhere  ; 
Look  up,  and  Life's  true  Fountain  see 
In  Bethlehem  and  Calvary  ! 

Thou  Kaaba,  black  desert-stone. 

Against  which  half  the  world  to-day 
Still  stumbles,  strive  to  keep  thy  throne 

Lit  by  Thy  Crescent's  pallid  ray ; 
The  moon  before  the  sun  must  pale, 
That  brighter  Sign  shall  yet  prevail, 
Of  Him  whose  cry  of  victory 
Is  Bethlehem  and  Calvary  ! 

O  Thou,  who  didst  not  once  disdain 
The  childish  form,  the  Manger  poor  ; 

Who  once  to  take  from  us  our  pain 
All  pain  didst  on  the  Cross  endure ; 

Pride  to  Thy  Manger  cannot  bend. 

Thy  Cross  doth  haughty  minds  offend, 

But  lowly  hearts  draw  close  to  Thee 

In  Bethlehem  and  Calvary  ! 

The  Kings  approach,  to  worship  there 
The  Paschal  Lamb,  the  Shepherd  race ;  < 

And  thitherwards  the  nations  fare 
As  pilgrims  to  the  Holy  Place ; 

The  storm  of  warfare  on  them  breaks. 

The  World  but  not  the  Cross  it  shakes, 

When  East  and  West  in  strife  ye  see 

For  Bethlehem  and  Calvary. 


340         CHRISTIAN  SINGERS  OF  GERMANY. 

O  not  like  those,  with  weaponed  hand, 

But  with  the  Spirit  let  us  go 
To  conquer  back  the  Holy  Land, 

As  Christ  is  conquering  still  below  ; 
Let  beams  of  light  on  ev'ry  side 
Speed  as  Apostles  far  and  wide, 
Till  all  the  Earth  draws  light  from  thee, 
O  Bethlehem,  O  Calvary  ! 

• 
With  pilgrim  hat  and  staff  I  went 

Afar  through  Orient  lands  to  roam, 
My  years  of  pilgrimage  are  spent. 

And  this  the  word  I  bring  you  home ; 
The  pilgrim's  staff  ye  need  not  crave 
To  seek  God's  Cradle  or  His  Grave, 
But  seek  within  you,  there  shall  be 
His  Bethlehem  and  Calvary  ! 

O  Heart,  what  helps  it  to  adore 

His  Cradle  where  the  sunrise  glows  ? 
Or  what  avail  to  kneel  before 

The  Grave  whence  long  ago  He  rose  ? 
That  He  should  find  in  thee  a  birth, 
That  thou  shouldst  seek  to  die  to  earth 
And  live  to  Him  ; — this,  this  must  be 
Thy  Bethlehem  and  Calvary  ! 


THE   END. 


LONDON  :    R.    CLAY,    SONS,    AND   TAYLOR,    PRINTERS. 


